Recently I saw a video posted on Facebook by a page called “Awesome Things” that I actually thought was horrifying. The video was about a restaurant in San Francisco called Eatsa. So you know the video that I’m talking about, click: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fawesomethings24.7%2Fvideos%2Fvb.497637593751493%2F547738578741394%2F%3Ftype%3D3&show_text=0&width=560“>here
Watching this post made me immediately think of Wall-E and it freaked me out. Here’s a clip of the movie that I think illustrates my point:
In WALL-E, everyone communicates via a screen, even when they are gliding along on their chairs right next to each other. Each person receives their food, in a cup, from a robot that delivers to each person individually. The babies are taught by a robot with an electronic screen. People sit by a pool, but no one is enjoying the water. My favorite moment is at the end of the clip when Wall-e knocks the screen away from the woman and the look of wonder she has on her face. It is possibly the first time in a while that she is truly seeing what exists outside of her screen.
Similar to Wall-e, in Eatsa, other than one attendant to make sure everything runs smoothly, there are no cashiers or waiters. As you saw, people order their food from an iPad and receive it from a cubby into which a hidden kitchen staff place the entrees. While I think the restaurant is well-intentioned, “we can provide better food, faster, and at an unprecedented price of just $6.95” (1), the lack of human interaction concerns me. I have done some research and several people say its not a huge deal because it is no different than a fancy vending machine. Eatsa isn’t marketed as a vending machine though, it is marketed as a restaurant. Many of the tag lines highlight the use of technology from start to finish and how it is the future of fast food, because “sometimes fast food just isn’t fast enough”(2). It makes my heart hurt just reading those statements because I don’t understand how the lack of people assisting customers can be a good thing or why everyone has to always be in such a rush. I think it is just another example of technology separating people and promoting social isolation.
More and more restaurants are using methods of transaction in which the customers do basically everything on their own. Inside of Paneras, even though there are employees to ring people up, there is an iPad that the customer can use to order. They even try to lure customers to prefer that means of ordering by providing a free cookie as an incentive. Starbucks has mobile ordering now which, depending on the customer, can lead to literally no words being exchanged between the barista and the coffee-lover. Even in sit down restaurants, such as Applebees, Red Robin, and Chili’s, there are small screens on tables in which the customer can press buttons for drink refills and pay the bill without the waiter needing to check in on how the patron is doing. I pride myself on being a good customer who tips well (I have been a server and know how much it sucks to be stiffed or poorly tipped),…but why must I tip if the restaurant doesn’t promote proper service that has the waiter actually trying to take care of my dining experience.
A big issue is that the ability to communicate is becoming more and more rare. Humans are becoming further isolated everyday and the small interactions that occur at the counter of a coffee shop or café are important. I know that in the few minutes I talk to a customer and hear even just a tidbit of their day may be helpful to them or me. Every so often I get to share in exciting moments for someone like a wedding or new baby announcement and it makes my day! These moments don’t have to be drawn out, but I do think it is psychologically important for a human to look up from a screen for a moment, look at a person, and engage him or her for a second.
One day when I was expressing how I would like to be married and have children, someone asked me why I would want to bring children in to the world. Other than my less than cynical point of view in general, I think I would be helpful in encouraging my children to be engaging and comfortable with social situations. I think the person I was talking to dislikes the world we have today because people don’t always know how to treat each other. Even when it comes to taking pictures now adays, we are so used to taking selfies and using our selfie sticks that it seems weird or intrusive to ask a stranger to help us out. I am one to use selfies sometimes, but I also enjoy the appearance of a photo with my friends that actually shows where we are and isn’t our faces smushed up so close to the screen. I never feel like I am being inconvenienced when someone asks me to take a photo so it’s interesting that I feel that way about asking. Communication is so important and the modern way to do that is by ordering through a phone or iPad, talking through text, or completely avoiding people altogether. We go to a self checkout at the grocery, the atm at the bank, or simply order everything we want from the internet to avoid talking to another person. The current divorce rate in America is 40-50% (2). The relationship advice that I most frequently hear being given to couples is learning how to talk to each other. In a society in which it can feel awkward to actually speak to people without a screen present, it is not surprising that the statistic is so high.
Another reason why I am so frustrated by the “Awesome Things” video and the iPads at Panera and other restaurants is that those kinds of restaurants and facilities are taking away jobs from people. They are using computerized systems to replace a human. Panera doesn’t have to have as many employees manning the front of the store because the cashier position is almost completely unimportant now that customers can do all of that themselves. A whole section of a company that I used to work for was laid off because of the technological advances that were being made in the industry. People were not as efficient as a computer that could control and organize the workplace while completing multiple tasks at once. In a world in which there are so many people desperately seeking a job, its not hard to see the reasons why they can’t even find a minimum wage paying one. A computer is now in charge of taking care of a customer.
And finally, our current use of technology does promote laziness. Similar to the guy in the Wall-e clip who falls off his chair and can’t get back up, we sit in our chairs for hours watching netflix, online shopping, and checking in on our many social media platforms. It may not be to the extreme as the people who live in the “Buy and Large” world, but we are encouraged to stay at home and explore the world from our computers rather than actually experiencing it for ourselves. More people shop online for new shoes or clothes instead of feeling the fabrics for themselves and taking the time to try them on in the store. The whole “netflix and chill” dating phenomenon promotes the idea of not making the effort to go out and plan a special activity for a person you may be trying to woo. Just stay home, get comfy, and events will lead to probably the same outcome as meeting someone out at a bar, but less effort is exerted.
Before I get into even more of the the reasons why this kind of service and social interaction is troubling to me, I want to also write that the purpose of this post is not to say that I don’t like technology. I’m a huge fan of my computer, iPad, phone, and Fitbit that I use daily. My dad was one of the first people I knew back in middle school to start using a TiVo; and my sister and I loved it. Every so often, because I am intense about getting a good seat, I will choose to buy tickets at the automated teller at the movie theater when I see a long line. If I only have a 30 minute lunch break at work, I may order from a nearby restaurant online because it saves a little bit of time. I obviously recognize that my life is a lot easier because of how advanced our phones, computers, and other electronic devices are. I too love how we are able to FaceTime and Skype to talk with our loved ones who live far away. When technology is used to bring people together, I love it. I just think we all need to take a step back and focus on the other effects technology has on us.
It is inevitable that people will want to find ways to make life easier and more efficient. I completely understand being busy and trying to find the time to do everything all at once. Society is always trying to become faster and faster to surpass the successes of the generation before it. But maybe the bigger question than how technology is influencing us, is why we feel this need to always be moving, talking, and thinking faster. Maybe if we can learn to slow down, remove the screen from in front of our faces, and open our eyes, we can feel the same sense of calm and admiration for the world around us as the woman in Wall-E. There’s a chance that if each person could take a little more time away from their electronic stimulation, and choose to have a real moment with another person at a grocery, bank, movie theater, or restaurant, the truly “awesome things” may occur.
1.http://www.businessinsider.com/eatsa-fully-automated-restaurant-chain-2016-2
2.http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/31/436377616/the-restaurant-with-no-visible-workers
3.http://www.apa.org/topics/divorce/
every so often... 
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