An Inhuman World…

 

My goodness, this automated world is truly unbelievable!

Everything is automated in some form or other… and what is not yet seems to be headed in that direction. From do-it-yourself checkouts to RECORDED customer service assistance! Hey, if I knew what help I needed, I would not be calling customer service!!!!!

I just spent 20-minutes on the phone with my utility company’s automated response system pushing buttons to make selections to try and get some answers about my bill. Some of the questions far into it did accept YES or NO answers. The next message said that if I wanted to wait to speak to a LIVE (maybe?????) customer service rep to press one if I wanted a call back (in 1.5 to 3 hours!) or two if I wanted to wait on the phone (for 1.5 to 3 hours!) … and then the message said, “if you have a rotary phone, please stay on the line and a customer service representative will help you”.

So, yes, I do have a touchtone, which is obviously how I even got to the point I did, but I decided not to push any buttons HOPING for a human voice. Less than 15-seconds later I got the same automated message about pushing one or two! If you wanted a call back, you were told to leave your call back number after the beep. I finally pushed 1 AND I WAS DISCONNECTED! (I did have hope that MAYBE they would use caller ID to get back to me, so here it is 4-hours later and after their business hours and still no response).

I did send an email through their website’s “contact form” – I wonder how many computers it will take to decipher my request?

The other day the hubs and I took a drive to meet up with family at a restaurant and we had a toll bridge to cross. We do have EZ-Pass so, really, no worries there. But as we are nearing the entrance to the bridge, where toll booths once sat, was a big sign reassuring motorists that “If you don’t have EZ-Pass we will just bill you”. NO PEOPLE, just scanners (for the EZ-Pass) and overhead cameras to read your license plates! Aside from the fact that this system has effectively done away with jobs that some once depended on, the thought that your movements are being tracked is a bit upsetting.

Yes, I do have an ALEXA on my desk, which I use to set reminders… and it is very convenient when those reminders pop up on my cell phone or ALEXA’s voice tells me “In person” when I am sitting here. But I will NEVER, EVER put her in my bedroom because SHE LISTENS! And I have found out that she actually “cooperates” with other AI systems. And in ALEXA’s own words, she “is rather partial to all AI systems”. By the way, I also write the reminders on my paper desk calendar!

What a world we are living in where robotic devices are controlling our moves, recording our lives, and replacing human beings who not only did their jobs and got paid for it, but also found time to say a kind word here and there! Just watch any Sci-Fi movie with a plot where there is no more power, or where robots have taken over and it is scary to realize JUST HOW SCREWED WE ALL WOULD BE!

Okay, I have to go now… ALEXA just told me it was time to go fix dinner.

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Stand Up For Yourself

Sometimes it seems that if you don’t advocate for yourself, no one else will. I know that sounds rather pessimistic, there are a few who go out of their way to help others — mostly people are just trying to make it through their own days and their own woes. There really isn’t blame to go around.

Bosses don’t understand when the customer rep takes a little more time to do extra for someone, most times there is an allotted amount of time to spend on each customer no matter how dire their situation. For people unable to look up the right information or communicate their specific needs, well, they wind up being forgotten. So often an elderly person living alone realizes how alone they are when pushing for themselves just gets to tiring to continue the fight. It’s sad when benefits or services they need so much seems beyond their reach.

Loved ones who want to help and ensure that their family is taken care of are sometimes across the country or too busy with their own lives and immediate household; maybe they are busy because their priorities don’t make it convenient and sometimes they have genuine concerns of their own (sickness, money problems, children who depend on them…), and it’s hard to be there for everyone.

It’s frustrating to make repeated phone calls to a doctor’s office only to reach a receptionist each time who tells you they’ve taken your message and yet no return phone call has been made. Everybody is busy. And then there are those special few who go above and beyond to help. There’s the doctor who makes personal phone calls to other doctors to help a patient coordinate the care he/she needs. There’s the insurance representative who actually believes that his/her job description IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. There’s the neighbor who drives someone to the doctor’s office and picks them up after a hospital stay.

The elderly, children with developmental disabilities, returning vets, and those living on meager incomes are all too often the ones who are left to fall through the cracks because there are too few resources, from budgets to time, to help them. Too often we might mimic the cry of Blanche from Streetcar Named Desire and say we must “depend on the kindness of strangers”, but like Blanche, is that kindness actually kind or self-serving? Too many people grasp at whatever help might come their way and sometimes find themselves scammed. It can be heartbreaking.

We need to find some way to advocate for ourselves and our loved ones, it can be terribly exhausting. If the need arises because we ourselves can’t manage the things we need, or because our loved ones need more attention than we can provide, there are (for the elderly) Geriatric Care Managers, but that does cost money and not everyone can afford it — than again can you afford not to get the needed help? That is something that truly needs to be considered.

Learn to advocate for yourself and your loved ones. Get information, ask, research, attend seminars (check out local libraries) and share that info with your friends and family (it might help someone else as well). Understand your rights as a patient, as a renter, as a business customer, and as a human being. Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself and make yourself heard, if you need help making your feeling clear ask someone to help you. Make notes especially who you speak with and who told you what. Try to keep your emotions at bay, all too often people don’t have the patience or compassion to listen to someone else’s tears or anger. Be firm in your resolve and know that you are worth the effort.