QUESTION: Has convenience culture – delivery apps, streaming, one-click purchases – made everyday life better, or quietly removed the things that used to give it meaning?
The Water Cooler – Convenience Culture – Is Life Better Or Worse With It?
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It hasn’t changed my way of doing things too much. I rarely order online, I still shop in
a real store, and I never eat fast foods. The change that I don’t like is actually an inconvenience. I don’t like the inconvenience of removing groceries from my cart and
placing them on a conveyor belt, and I don’t like bringing my own bags with me. If I
forget to bring my bags, the clerk will ask me how many bags I need, and my answer
is always the same, “I have no idea, just give me a handful and if I need more I will let
you know, and if there are any left over, I will give them back to you.” They don’t like
it because they have to charge me a dime for each bag, but when I have a cart full of
groceries, I really don’t know how many bags I will be needing.
The greatest convenience ever was the invention of the indoor toilet. I’m so glad I was
born after its invention.
I BMOB, (Bring My Own Bag(s)) though I usually only get enough to fit in one bag. I have for years purchased online or back before “online” call in or send in an order form. Nothing really that new under the sun but they sure want to social engineer us to use apps to shop (often come with bugs not bags). I guess some of these “engineers” think they are living in the futuristic cartoon shows they watched as kids. Food delivery, who hasn’t ever had a pizza delivered?
I keep extra bags in the car. If I forget to fetch the bags before entering a store I tell the cashier to put everything in back the cart without bags or select “zero bags” if using self-checkout. I’ll bag the stuff once I’m back at the car.
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I don’t mind emptying a cart onto a conveyor belt. Self checkout can be a pain as they tend to not have large staging areas before and after the scanner. I like to spread everything out and to then mentally organize how the bags will get filled. Large things can go back in the cart without bagging.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting toilet paper shortage was a nice reminder of how essential and useful that simple invention is.
Or do like they do in India, keep a small bucket of water next to the toilet. 😎
I do that.
If the power cuts off, the well pump stops.
The main reason I don’t like emptying my cart onto the conveyor belt is because they
will start ringing things up before I can watch them, and I have noticed that when they
ring up the wrong price, it’s always in the store’s favor.
Generally speaking they are a convenience – but the problem I see is that it enables people to spend too much and allows the “dumbing” of people overall.
Definitely makes things easier and better.
Just the other day, sitting in my recliner,
I ordered a new recliner.
You just a revolving La-Z-Boy thru n thru. (and we have 4!)
A bittersweet question with good and not so
good aspects.
Example; makes it too easy to over spend for
convenience, etc. But, in a necessary circumstance
such as I’m in, and because I was trying to hurry,
I sustained an ankle injury. For a couple more weeks, have to have basics delivered to my home. Overall, convenience culture makes every day life more expensive, and much too rushed, thus less meaningful.
Meaning…. I don’t give a crap about past meanings gone, if it’s easier I do it don’t care what meaning it’s erasing from the past.