Eight*8

It's a sad commentary on our society that nothing can be done face-to-face anymore. I have been sorting out things in preparation for my departure from Wagga Wagga and through this process in the past few days I have discovered that so many things have to be dealt with over the phone. Example, I went into the Telstra shop to sort out my latest bill only to be told that I had to do it over the phone which seems ridiculous. The same happened at fixing some details up with CSU (though this process also included an required a supporting email to be sent) and apparently you cannot make a claim at Centrelink without phoning up first. Its appalling really. Removing the face-to-face contact from such menial tasks such as fixing a phone bill really de-humanises the whole process and creates something that is void of humanity. The only relief from this process is that for the most part it is a real human being that you speak to at the end of the day over the phone, once you wade your way through the murky 'Press 1 for Accounting Services, Press 2 for Human Resources' blah blah that is computer operators. As much of a technocrat that I am and as much as I long for the day when there is artificial intelligence in a large scale capacity, I do not want the human factor to be removed completely from the systems. It is so much easier to talk to someone face-to-face than on the phone, quicker as well.