It seems as though the most basic of tasks have become too cumbersome for the average human. Let’s think about the way the acquisition of food has evolved throughout human history as an example. In the beginning of humanity, there were hunters and there were gatherers. They went out and procured food from the wilderness, occasionally risking their lives. Why? Because humans need food to survive. Getting food was literally the one thing you did back then – you lived to survive. Going forward in time, once the first societies and economies were established, you went outside and bought food with whatever currency you had, granting you the ability to actually have a real purpose in life other than self-preservation. This model proved to be quite popular, seeing as this has been the main way to acquire food for probably thousands of years. The modern equivalent of this is, of course, the supermarket. Comparing the supermarket to the stone age, I’m pretty sure most people would agree that we have it pretty good today. And to those who don’t: I’d really like to meet you in person. Or not. I reckon you probably have a unique, possibly funky smell.
The future of everyday life?
Imagine my surprise when I go downtown and see an experimental supermarket. What’s so special about it, you ask? You walk in, take what you want, and just walk out. The whole second part of the grocery acquisition process, you know, the paying, takes place digitally afterward. This, I think to myself, is odd, but it doesn’t bother me. Then, in the following weeks, I start to think about the past couple of years. I’ve been seeing an increasing amount of grocery delivery services. You select your items online, and they get brought right to your doorstep. Great for the elderly, I guess. Until, finally, the breaking point: I see my 40-year-old neighbor get groceries delivered to his house… on a Saturday, no less. Now, I’m thinking, do we have no more time to spare for our basic necessities? Has going out to the grocery store been such a huge strain on your life? Do you need those 30 minutes that get taken from you once every week for something else that urgently? If you can’t even find the time for such an essential thing, what is life even all about? Now, what’s next? Adult diapers to save time? Remote sleeping or some other postmodern horse dung? Is there some guy wishing for every single thing in his life to be done remotely, just waiting for the day they never have to leave the house, or even stand up?
The fallout: I was right, all along
The most tragic thing about all this is, that when I discussed my feelings with some of my friends, they made fun of me, and thought it was ridiculous that I cared this much about something that doesn’t affect me one bit. And really, they were right, which frustrates me even more. But where it comes back around to being funny? There are actually multiple stores with this “just-walk-out” business model in the USA by Amazon. Rather, there were. What happened, you ask? Well, check this out. The electronic system or whatever that they had in place to scan what you put in your shopping cart? Turns out it was just a bunch of guys remotely surveilling you and your purchases from India. Now isn’t that interesting! To my readers I say: try to enjoy the simpler things in life, like grocery shopping, or vacuum cleaning, or lying down and doing nothing. To my friends, however, I say this: Who’s laughing now?