It is rare to call a business phone and get an actual person, but when I do, I rejoice! I realize that I’m old-fashioned and some of you young’uns won’t believe me, but I recall a time when there was an actual operator on the line who asked, “Number, please?” I also remember a time before answering machines when either the person I was calling would answer or wouldn’t. No answering machine, no recorded instructions. Either the person was in or wasn’t.
What I really miss is the personal touch, of communicating with another human. It’s hard to feel empathy for a tinny little voice telling me to punch one number if I speak English, another if I speak Spanish, and then, another following those directions, to get a whole litany read to me from another pre-recording. Usually, “Our menu has changed.” Ugh! Menu? I’m not ordering something to eat; I just want to talk to someone. By the time I reach a live person, I’m not in the really good mood I was in when I picked up the phone.
Stores, too, are losing or have lost the personal touch. Self check-outs are nice if you’re in a hurry, but, once again, I can go into and out of a store without saying anything or being spoken to.
Have you ever considered the hundreds of people you meet, pass, glimpse, as you drive down the street? You have no idea who they are even though they pass within only a few feet of you. They are nameless; you are nameless. They’re the person at the wheel of a car and so are you. Contrast this, please, with a few decades past when cars were fewer and a lot slower or even when people rode horses or drove wagons. It was rare to meet someone without saying hello or waving. Now, if you wave at somebody, be careful. You may have just made an offensive gesture.
I’m not actually complaining because I know that wouldn’t do any good. I guess I’m lamenting a time past when there were fewer machines and people interacted with each other. Soon, we can go or buy or transact business without saying an actual word; just by pressing numbers and following directions. Truly, I miss the personal touch.
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