Memory Lane

Lots of conversations in side these weeks on a nostalgia for times gone by when things were simpler. My lateral brain goes from the news that Amazon fresh  is beginning to go off. The novel idea of just picking your scannable items and walking out the door as the cost is taken out of your account is perhaps a step too far for us. Maybe just maybe we need people to interact with along the way. I am remembering being a very young child looking at the high shelf behind the shopkeeper where the tall glass jar with the black lid held the desired apple drops. Perhaps you will remember the time too when you had a human gatekeeper behind the counter who required you to point and request the desired item. Penny sweets in white paper bags. They tasted so good. I do remember wanting to be a shop keeper. How glorious that job appeared to my 5 year old eyes. A wonkaland of possibilities….Little did I know.
 
Back further I remember the infamous shop in Portlaoise called Boylans. Eddie and his brother wore the brown overalls, typical of service to a local community that has not forgotten their impact. As children we were not able to grasp the importance of those conversations as people were traced and stories told while groceries were collected. Shopping was a slow process. My mother would write out her list there and they discussed the latest news of births deaths and marriages. No money changed hands but the list was held on account until the farming harvest came in when the bill was paid.
 
I can still smell the place in my memory. It remains fresh. Unlike Amazon business plans.
 
Fast forward to today and those  many gatekeepers are being made redundant with technology and the promise of progress. Self-service check outs are monotone and quite frankly annoying. There is no conversation. When it doesn’t work in the streamlined time saving way it promises, I feel like a scolded child leaving the supermarket. Unidentified item in the bagging area…
 
Our world is enriched with opportunities to connect and communicate. Accessing food and groceries is one regular way to get that connection back and we see more people acknowledging this benefit. It is prompting those conversations again of the good old days. Memory lane is interesting and fun. Imagine trying to have those conversations with Alexa and Siri? The unfortunate price of progress seems to be disconnection. Is it worth it? 

Anne Maher