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The Backroad to Civilization

January 2nd, 2023:

@cosullivan asked her #FiveQuestions for January and, since I'm trying to

engage more, I've decided to play along.

1. What are you grateful for from 2022? Top of the list, easily, is my

family, immediate and extended. Second would be for the Variety Club of

Manitoba, for helping us with funding for our autistic daughter's

programs. Third would be for my workplace's pharmaceutical plan, which

helps keep my wife alive and stable.

2. Has the internet changed the way you think? No... well, no more so than age has.

3. What do you believe is true though you cannot prove it? The existence of God.

4. What have you changed your mind about and why (If possible, use an

example from 2022)? Self-checkouts. I used to hate them for

anti-corporate reasons and that "they took away jobs"... however, since we

started using them in earnest, I've gotten to love them as they eliminate

most of the things I hated about waiting in line at the checkout counter:

People holding up the line while chatting and gossipping with the cashier
Getting stuck behind slow people with a huge cartload of goods
Getting stuck behind people with a cartload of goods to be charged in two or more separate transactions using different payment methods
The cashier being under orders to ask whether we want to sign up for the store credit card EVERY FREAKIN' TIME
Getting stuck behind people with complaints who can't be bothered to go to customer service
Getting stuck behind people with a ton of coupons (at least one of which will be expired, invalid, or fake)
Getting stuck behind people arguing/complaining about an item's price
Getting stuck behind people buying scratch lotto tickets and playing them at the counter.

... and so forth. Self-checkouts are an absolute boon to the impatient, entitled, and/or introverted.

5. What would you like to return to? That time when livable, walkable neighbourhoods were the norm, and car ownership wasn't essential for a family to access goods and services. So... the late 19th/early 20th Century.

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