There is a cafe in a large town nearby that I visit once in a blue moon. I know it well because I used to work nearby.
Today, they had very enthusiastic people admiring this robot that was been demonstrated for a very smug manager who was grinning from ear to ear.
By chance he served me at the counter. I made the comment that I wouldn’t be smiling about something that is about to take your job.
This went straight over his head until I commented that I wont go to a cafe staffed by robots, at which point his face dropped like a lead balloon and it then became apparent he was actually the manager. (oops!, put my foot in it again).
It seems he has staffing issues, so the robot is in ‘reserve’
But here’s the thing. I know the history of the place and I know that he cant keep staff because he’s too difficult to deal with.
While I was there, a waitress got all stressed out simply because some customers sat down at a table to wait for their takeaway order. It just illustrated to me the stress that the staff were under.
So here’s the thing If you like been served by real people, be nice to them. Treat them as you would like to be treated. Sometimes they aren’t having a good day.
The alternative is a cold robot that talks in a soothing voice. It might be a quaint experience at first but then, maybe that might change..
The above statement gets me into trouble every winter, because an old knee injury comes back to remind me of a tramping incident in 1986.
Mt Taranaki in 1985, looking over from the Pouakai ranges. In the middle is a giant swamp.
It was a real simple accident, I just slipped on a rock in a stream and my knee took all the weight plus the weight of a full backpack. Me been me, I just picked myself and carried on regardless at the time.
I was a bit anti doctor in those days and physiotherapy wasn’t a thing in a small town. As I’ve got older it seems to give more trouble each winter.
It doesn’t have to be that way though.
Simple things like keeping my knees warm, regular cycling (high cadence, low power), and taking care not to twist my knee joint makes for a carefree day.
Trouble is, I’m rather like an old dog that runs into the river, then spends the rest of the day wincing with aritheritis..
Such is life, I ain’t about to start ‘acting my age’ any time soon.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – attributed to Mark Twain I had a friend ask me about […]
New zealand is still in a state of flux these days in the aftermath of covid hysteria.
Covid, or rather the reaction to it has destroyed and/or disrupted most people’s lives in some way.
-Most people now have family members that they don’t/won’t talk to anymore. -Mandates that either forced people to take the jab or lose their job. -Adverse reactions to the jab. These don’t officially exist here, but the chances are that anyone in New Zealand knows someone who suffers from a bad reaction. Myocarditis is a common one. -Even religion wasn’t immune with churches turning away some of their own faithful.
Some amends have since been made and those who were cast out, are now been accepted again.
The Government had used covid as a cover to ‘redesign society’ and push through rather idealistic ideas as to how we should live our lives. They are still trying to do this, but resistance is growing, and they are losing ground in the all important polls.
They have tried pushing the fear of monkeypox, since covid doesn’t cut the mustard anymore, but people just aren’t buying it.
Everything seems to have changed in the last two years or is still changing, which has sweep people off their feet leaving them confused, with nothing constant in their lives anymore to cling to. The situation reminds me of the lyrics of a song by Bob Dylan -The times are a changing. (written in the turbulent times of the 1960’s in the USA)
The uncertainy about the future and rising inflation is causing people to think twice about spending. It feels like NZ is about to go into an economic depression. Some people here would still dispute this, but all the warning signs are there, and the economic damage and debt from the lockdowns has to be dealt with eventually.
It’s still common to see mask wearers, even though it’s now commonly known to be a dumb idea. The main culprits tend to be ‘look at me’ virtue signallers.
The mandates are slowly, and quietly been withdrawn. the latest one to fall is for the Firefighters
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