Without words

This is Mike...
While walking through Miami International Airport, after arriving from Uruguay, I stumbled upon a new customer service hologram. These new pods will be coming to a airport near you. The hologram image was of a beautiful, tall, well busted Latina. The lady in the hologram spoke English and Spanish fluently, and could access other languages if requested. All you had to do was push a button and you could be electronically guided. Soon all of us will be saying, "I can remember a day when people did this."
   I went to a restaurant in Austin, the other day, that has 3 registers two of which were touch screens and one which had an actual human. These positions were formerly starter jobs for young people trying to save for a surfboard, car, or whatever. We are being maximized by our employers and soon to be replaced. Many tech companies are trying to develop driver-less cars. What about the taxi drivers or school bus drivers who have families to feed? I get it, I see the advantage of having a hot pod like I saw in Miami, it works 24/7, never requests holidays off, and never has any of those pesky pregnancy issues.
   I miss seeing the bio-luminescence in the waters of Central America, seeing the fisherman come in after a long days work. I miss the simplest of things that give depth to human interaction. When I become a grandfather I will tell my little ones of a time where people went out shopping, spoke with cashiers, shook a bank teller's hand, laughed at silly jokes. I'll explain till I am blue in the face that the world is not in the computer, it is outside your door. Years ago I took a communications course in college and learned that non-verbals represent 90% of communication. The squint of your eyes, the tone of your voice, the smile on your face all add depth and punctuate what you are saying. I will certainly encourage my little ones not to settle for the shallowness of words and explore the beauty of interaction.

Customer service hologram coming to a town near you.