The world is getting more hostile for the older generation.
I’m looking at it from my parents’ perspective, and partially from my own.
While I’m still capable of following technology, I am not always a willing
participant. Why does everything need apps to function? Why do we need to log
in to do things? Why does everything have to be digital? Why don’t we stick
with printed-out menus instead of QR codes? It’s for convenience, and possibly
other reasons, such as sustainability, etc. I GET IT. It doesn’t mean I agree
with all of them, and it doesn’t mean everything is as justifiable as what we
are told.
Scanning menus with QR codes is easier when we eat with a
group of acquaintances, so that there is no awkwardness for splitting the bills
or fuming because we eat a chicken’s toe, while Joe eats the whole cow, and the
bill is divided equally. I’m channeling some of my work lunch frustration
scenario here. Order separately, pay separately. Done. However, I can feel the
helplessness of my parents when they are unable to do so, and they are
considered advanced among their peers. Many people we know, younger than them,
still use their phones for incoming and outgoing calls only.
When they eliminated the manual top-up for transit cards and
replaced human cashiers with self-checkouts, it was a struggle for everyone who
was not accustomed to technology and had to relearn everything, especially
since the transition was not smooth at all. According to my dad, when he asked
for help, the staff told him to ask fellow commuters. It was ridiculous. They
eventually installed back a lone human to cater to people who need assistance
and one manual machine option.
There was a time when we went to the barber and had to order
a haircut through the screen menu. There were multiple errors with some
registration problems, delayed responses, and missing OTPs (why do we need all
those?). The staff was one meter away from our noses but insisted that was the
only way, so we eventually gave up and walked out. It was a freaking haircut,
less complicated than shaving my dog’s butt hair. What is wrong with accepting
the money manually and being done with it? I know. I know. There is some
payment authorization system there or some shit, but I think it’s stupid if
this cripples the business.
Well, I guess it’s only time before I’m becoming a grumpy
antique. I think there should be a manual option for EVERYTHING. It’s
ridiculous that appliances have to be connected to Wi-Fi. It’s stupid that
printers or some extra features in cars require subscriptions to work. It’s
idiotic that we have to navigate the menu on the screen that costs us limbs to
replace instead of turning the button to adjust the radio in our car. Maybe
this is an unpopular opinion, after all, I feel ancient, but mark my words as I
shake my fist to the sky: Our reliance on technology will damn us one day.
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