Categories: uncategorized
Date: 11 July 2008 18:14:08
Yesterday in Tesco, already bemused and bewildered by the fact that the shop is being rebuilt while still open and nothing is where it used to be, I was half way through filling my trolley when I heard the following announcement:
'We are sorry to inform customers that owing to a power cut, it is not currently possible to pay with a card. Cash only please.'
Whaaaat? I don't normally carry £120+ in cash on my person! Desperately I scrabbled around in my bag to confirm that I had a chequebook with me, which turned out to have one precious cheque left in it. True, there are cashpoints at Tesco but they might have suffered from the power cut too, and anyway there was sure to be a run on them now.
I just didn't have the heart to unload the whole trolley again or to abandon it in mid-aisle, so I soldiered on hunting frantically for capers and fish sauces, until I heard the heart-warming announcement that the problem was now fixed. Phew!
This really has made me realize how utterly dependent we are on high technology. Why do I feel that the African woman growing a few vegetables on her plot is actually far more capable and self-sufficient than I am?