Now, I want to note right this moment that I have not done any hard or concrete research into this, though I feel rather certain that the data out there exists, possibly in the form of old letters and journals. If you feel like I’m wrong on what I’m about to address, feel free to say, but I will also ask that you provide some actual evidence to counter what I’m about to say.
To start here, I posted to Facebook back August of 2018 – it was after I’d tried to reconnect with a person who decided staying comfortable was more important than actually learning and growing as an individual (yep. Being snarky on that one) – that I loved being a jack of all trades. Right now, the only thing I’m on my way to mastering is writing fiction, and that’s still going to be a lifelong prospect. (It’s also still kind of looked down upon, but that’s okay, too. I’m still going to write fiction for as long as I humanly can.)
Yes, I wrote I loved (and still do love) being a jack of all trades. I’ve worked in manufacturing, health care, retail (specialty retail, mainly), hospitality, and restaurant. I’ve really racked up the number of years in the restaurant industry, too, and, if there’s anything I’ve ever noticed since I first began working in the “real” world back in 1994, it’s how things have changed. For decades now (and this is coming from my stepdad, who has a considerable number of years working in a foundry, and from what I’ve observed during my short stint in manufacturing), the manufacturing industry has been going more automated. Machines can work with more efficiency than a human being can. Yes, humans currently need to run the machines in most U.S. based manufacturing, but the machine can still turn out more parts per minute, per half hour, per hour, based on what the machine is designed to do, than what a human can.
Let me put it this way: Before the invention of tractors, tillers, and the like, a plantation had a dozen slaves, or more, to do the digging, the seeding, the crop care from sprouting, watering, weeding, and harvesting. A dozen people or more to farm over a good chunk of land. Smaller farms fared marginally better, but they also used their children as their labor force as well. A single tractor with a plow can do more work in less time than what the dozens of slaves could.
The same is going on with manufacturing and, ironically enough, with retail. Big chain stores like Wal-Mart have self checkout lanes where one person oversees four or five self checkout registers. In many places, it’s all about becoming faster, more efficient, and earning more per sale because they can cut the number of employees that they have on hand. If the store doesn’t have the self-checkout, like JCPenney, it’s still cutting the number of registers it has open because it still costs them money to have sixteen registers open and pay sixteen people the barest minimum possible (I started out at $8.75 over $7.25 due to my previous retail experience while others hired before me or around the same time as me were hired at $7.25 due to a lack of retail experience) to run those registers. It’s just not that cost efficient, and places like JCPenney are already in serious financial trouble. They’re trying to keep up with the likes of Amazon, but the majority of people want to be able to try on their clothes before they purchase. It’s still costly, though, to have more than sufficient staffing during months like January and February. I call these months the famine months for retail and restaurant because sales decline. (Also note here: JCPenney is staying afloat because of their instore credit card. The constant sales they have does a number on profits, which also affects their ability to hire and pay people accordingly.)
Incidentally, because a lot of retail (and restaurants) are heading into the digital age, I half-expect at some point in the future (may not be now, may not even happen five years from now, but, if animatronic hotel receptionists are a thing in Japan, it’s only a matter of time before such a thing takes the world by storm) for any box chain stores like JCPenney to have A.I. employees that they don’t need to pay. These A.I.’s are going to be able to help you find what you need with greater efficiency than what a human being can.
For example, last August, I finally broke down, went to JCPenney (bras were buy one, get one 50% off), and bought myself some real bras. Not sports bras, actual bra bras with straps and clasps and everything. I have really huge boobs, and more than a few people kept telling me I need the “right bra, one that could support my boobs. (And, yes, I have huge boobs. I don’t like them being this huge. They HURT. Physically. For those of you who say what you’d do with boobs as big as mine, yeah, no. You wouldn’t. You’d be complaining that your lower back hurts because of the amount of weight you’re carrying, and, unless you’re ordering a specialty bra that can stand up to the weight of them WITHOUT the straps digging into your shoulders, you really don’t know what you’re ultimately talking about. And for those of you who say love my body as it is, heavy boobs are a gift, tell that to my upper back after wearing a bra to hold them up for ten to twelve hours a day in something meant more to please men than to actually aid women. I hate bras with a passion, not just because I’m a feminist but because they also physically hurt me. And, unless you actually have the $150-$300 FOR A SINGLE BRA to fit me or any other heavy boobed woman who earns less than $40k a year, I’ll kindly ask you to keep your thoughts and opinions about me, or any other heavy boob woman, to yourself. Bras are ridiculously expensive, even cheap ones, and we have other things to pay with our money. End rant.) So I finally broke down, took some of my earnings and bought me some clothes over tax exempt weekend here in Oklahoma (good on all clothing, shoes, and school supplies). Bras were now on this list.
Now, it had been a LONG time since I’d actually gone bra shopping. To be a little more precise, April 2011 for the Write That Novel workshop I attended, and I’d purchased the size that was closest to what I could wear. Went to Wal-Mart, grabbed the largest size they and went from there. I’d gained weight since that point and have started to lose it again, but this last go-round was a hassle. For starters, there are very few employees at JCPenney who can actually size a woman for bras so I waited for someone I was comfortable with to aid me in this endeavor. Once we finally crossed paths, the sizing took place, and the measuring tape put me in a J cup.
Yes. You read that correctly. J-cup. I ended up getting some triple or quadruple Ds after trying on some bras large enough to fit as well as in the not-white category. I don’t wear a lot of white on a daily basis. Any white bras will sit for MONTHS waiting to be washed because I’m required to wear red five days a week. And if you’ve ever worn a bra for more than a week without washing it, you can feel the sweat, oil, and dirt in the material when you keep wearing it. (It’s nasty.)
So, because I finally listened to those who kept telling me I needed bras, I went through this hassle of being sized, of trying bras on, and trying to find something that could be washed on a weekly basis (single person who wears a uniform 4-5 days a week, not a lot of laundry to be done except once a week), and trying to avoid underwires because the wires eventually break through the fabric and start digging into tender flesh. (And, ironically enough, they tell me that underwires are necessary for a woman like me with big boobs.)
Now, this might seem like a rant more than anything else. It is a rant, in its own way, at the same time it’s an illustration of the frustrations of clothing shopping that’s going to see a revolution take place. Those A.I.s in retail stores I mentioned? They’re going to be able to take one look at a person like me, and, thanks to their programming, they’re going to let me know precisely what size of a bra I’m going to need, should I go bra shopping. They’re going to be able to tell me what size of clothing I need, based on brand, and where it’s located. They’re going to be able to tell me what colors will work best with my skin tone, whether or not I’ll look good with prints like plaid or floral, what accessories will look great on me, and the list goes on. It sounds crazy, it sounds uncomfortable and impersonal, but it’s also a very real possibility. When it comes to shopping anymore, we’re getting to where we want to be in and out in a certain amount of time. We’re aiming to be efficient with our time and our money, and if retail can find a way to make that happen through the use of automation, they will make it happen. The digital revolution has already made a lot of things happen, so, in my humble and personal opinion, this is just a matter of time. It seems farfetched, but then back in 1996, I was just getting a taste of the internet and how it could connect me with people who share the same interests and values as me. Ebooks might have been Jeff Bezos’s pipe dream. Being able to apply for a job in the comfort of your own home while wearing pajamas or nothing at all? This is where technology has taken us, and it will take us a lot further, too.
The restaurant industry is being revolutionized by technology. Want Wendy’s or some other fast food place but don’t want to leave your house? There’s an app for that that will send a driver to the restaurant and have them delivery it for you. Want pancakes but don’t want to deal with a wait at the restaurant or a server having a bad day? Same app allows you to order from them, too. Sitting in at Olive Garden and don’t want to wait for the server drinks, appetizers, and desserts? You can order from the table. Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, the restaurant industry is about to either collapse in on itself or it’s going to cannibalize itself in order to be more of one of the following: efficient and expedient (restaurants that want more quantity due to lower prices than their competitors), healthy (more and more people are looking to be healthier, sustainable, clean, and ecologically responsible), or experience-oriented. I currently work in a restaurant. I interviewed for a different restaurant back in January, and the one manager told me he was hesitant to hire servers from places like where I worked. He knows that the company in question is about getting people in and out as fast as possible in under a certain amount of time because the more tables we’ve had in our assigned sections, the more money (hypothetically) we can make, and his restaurant isn’t about that. His restaurant is about the dining experience. His restaurant offers live entertainment throughout the week and holds a firework display for the Broken Arrow area. They don’t offer coupons and groupons to get people into their doors. His restaurant will survive this breakdown. They’ll be affected by it, for sure, but they will survive because they’ve taken the initiative to stand out from other places like theirs. The only way many places are going to survive will be to go towards automation and, eventually, for restaurants mainly, food replication, especially those that can’t offer more than friendly, pleasant service in their establishments.
I’ve had people say to me, when I have brought up things like A.I.s taking over retail and food replicators becoming a norm in restaurant, that people need to eat (restaurants) and people will continue to socialize. Yes. All of this is true, but the human element for retail and restaurant will be almost non-existent. Why? Because humans cannot keep up with machines in terms of productivity and efficiency. Less and less people will be employed in retail, restaurant/hospitality, and manufacturing as long as companies keep automating, which is exactly how it should be.
That begs the question of how will people continue to socialize with each other if they’re not interacting with servers and cashiers and other employees? Well, let’s consider how our ancestors used to socialize in the past.
Long before the invention of taverns and inns, long before the invention of restaurants and stores and movie theaters, our ancestors gathered around fires. They told each other stories. They aided each other when it came to hunting and gathering then leading the way to farming both crops and livestock. They held feasts and religious ceremonies. The more the communities built up, the more they found reasons to gather together, be it at a dance or simply wanting to invite friends and/or family over for a meal. They went to plays to act out the stories people invented or to keep alive the tales preserved from oral storytelling. In some cities, block parties are still a thing. People gather and plan to go to movies and plays. They attend sporting events and geek conventions. Many high schools still hold dances.
Our ancestors stood at fences to talk/gossip with each other. They sat in each other’s homes to drink tea or coffee to talk/gossip with each other. Jobs are not why we socialize. They never have been, though they have been great for introducing us to people who could become friends, spouses, and a weird mash-up of family.
So yes. Humans will continually socialize and interact with each other. Many things our ancestors used to do have remained tried and true when it comes to socializing with each other: storytelling around campfires, dancing, religious ceremony, celebrating a birth or a good harvest, and any number of things we know they used to do. As our imaginations have taken us in different places and, with the invention of technology and its advancements, we created other ways, other excuses, to get together and just have a good time. The entertainment industry, since it’s inception, has already given us good reasons to come together and to celebrate life. We will continue to ask our friends and family to gather for holidays and birthdays and to head to the movies just because. We’ll still sit in the comfort of our homes to watch the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500. The ways we currently socialize with each other will remain for as long as we will. We will just no longer require that socializing in retail, restaurant, and hospitality settings.
To note here: Not all retail will evaporate. Not all human-based jobs will evaporate. My personal belief is this: Health care will continue to employ humans along with personalized services and retail. The entertainment industry, law (read here: courts and lawyers, not law enforcement), architecture, and the sciences . . . anything that requires the human imagination, curiosity, , and innovation, those will be where humans will excel at the most . . . ironically, the way we used to do things.
This isn’t as scary as it might sound, actually. Can you imagine being able to sit down and do something we currently call crazy? Like write a novel or pursue singing or painting or even an athletic career with little to no ridicule? Gather with our friends and be as silly as we wish to be? To me, this sounds like a future I could get behind, and I do. 150%.
For some, this might sound like a truly awful thing to behold. For those who feel that way, well, chances are, most of us will be dead by the time what I predict for the future comes to pass. You’re safe.
Finally, for the major book announcement!
The Summer of Dragons and Fireflies is now due for publication on May 4th. Some new information came my way over the April 5th date, information that could have had a negative impact, so I chose to push it back one more month. A day later, I realized the gold I’d stumbled upon for myself on this new date.
Yes, my fellow geeks, I chose Star Wars Day (quite by accident, no less) and Free Comic Book day for my book release. I’m stoked about this change. On May 4th, as part of the celebration, I’ll be creating a comic book crawl photo album on the Enchanted Realms Facebook page for people to post pictures of their comic book crawl day. I’m even going to have a Star Wars album up for people to share their cosplays, their favorite Star Wars memes, and their marathons with family and friends.
So mark your calendars! The Summer of Dragons and Fireflies is coming at you! May the Fourth be with you!
Enchanted Realms 