“Insert Reward Card.”
Insert.
“Swipe card.”
Swipe.
“Pay here or inside?”
Here.
“Debit or credit?”
Credit.
“Enter zip code.”
Enters zip code.
“Scan your retina and sacrifice a pigeon at the gas pump.”
Wait…WHAT?
Okay, so the gas station pump at which I was filling up my car didn’t ask me to lay a sacrifice at its altar.
But it asked me everything else up until then!
Remember when you just used to swipe your credit card at the pump and you were all set? I do. This got me thinking about other things I used to do that are now, or are becoming, obsolete.
Things like:
- Going shoe shopping at a shoe store. Once upon a time there were these shoe stores. You browsed, picked up a shoe you were interested in, and then a salesperson actually asked you to sit down while she fetched the shoe from the back. Then she would help you try on the shoe. GASP.
How different is this from the way shoe shopping is now, rummaging through boxes on a messy shelf looking for your size? - Listening to CDs. I guess young people don’t buy CDs anymore and Best Buy stores have stopped selling them. I tried to be like them and listen to music on my phone and via Bluetooth in my car. But the set up (for me at least) was cumbersome. I had to know what I wanted to listen to, fire it up on my phone, and then press different buttons to set up my car stereo to Bluetooth all before I started driving. Meanwhile, all I have to do to listen to a CD is press play.
- Flipping through magazines. I love magazines! I love getting them in the mail and relaxing while reading them. If I find something interesting on one of the pages, I rip it out and set it aside. I can’t do that with a digital copy.
- Hanging up the phone. Somehow pressing the red button on my phone is nowhere near as satisfying as putting the phone headset back in its cradle. Remember if you were mad then you could slam it down?! I’m laughing thinking of angry people pushing the End Call button on their phone with fury.
What about you? What do you think is obsolete or going by the wayside that you still like?
You know I never really thought about it but I definitely agree with all of these! How about calling a company and getting an actual person to talk to that directed your call to where it needed to go rather than listening to a menu of options and trying to choose the one that MIGHT be able to help you?
Talking to a human being on the phone? That is a good one–and pretty much obsolete! Now that I think of it, though, my doctor’s office just went back to human beings answering the phone after a few years of those auto menus. It is easier, IMO, and also more humanizing, for sure.
i love and will always love the “drop in” – when i’m sitting on my front porch and people just randomly show up for a visit?! it doesn’t happen all that often – but when it does – it is amazing! and as many of my friends who live nearby can attest to – i will drop in on them too from time to time!
The drop-in! Yes!
I think Nordstrom still does a fabulous job with shoes. At least the one at The Grove in LA. Was there a few weeks ago and my niece, my mom and I had a great experience there. Nothing was too much for the shoe fellow. It was refreshing.
I do miss mechanics at gas stations. It’s a pain to have to drive miles to get my tire looked at or the wonky windshield wiper replaced.
With you on the phone point. It really was just so satisfying to slam down the receiver. Firing my iPhone into my couch just doesn’t have quite the same therapeutic value …
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I still like magazines too. Have subscriptions to many of them. I want to read the real deal.
We have a phone with a receiver where I work as a 911 dispatcher. Love slamming it down from time to time!
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That’s so cool that you are a 911 dispatcher!
I’m jealous you can still slam a phone down. 🙂
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Reading your opening lines, I was thinking “Man, that is exactly what happens at the Kroger gas station” and I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS TOO! Seriously, this is exactly what they ask at the Kroger in town and I swear I won’t get gas there BECAUSE OF THIS NONSENSE.
It drives me absolutely crazy! The other ones you shared are true too. Oh, man, there are tons of things that I miss doing that are now obsolete. Make a list of like 100! That’d be fun! I’ll have to brainstorm some too. 🙂
I miss Magazine clippings scattered on my kitchen counter. And forget about listening to music the ‘new way’- I don’t even get what you’re supposed to do, so I listen to cd audiobooks when I go for my walks.