Automation, Computers, Self-Service

It seems that today there is an app for everything. Computers, phones, traffic and security cameras, preform function that humans once did.

I get voice directions for a voice on my phone or OnStar. I ask Google questions about almost anything. Siri and I are only on a best friend basis when I’m uncertain about plumbing parts; She can send me a picture to my iPhone for clarification. A couple renewed their vows in Whitestone’s Chapel with their pastor. He was Skyped in from Florida.

Pictures of a rash are sent to the doctor. Shopping is increasingly done online.

You can order at a restaurant without talking to a waitress – just use an iPad on the table. You can check into hotels with codes sent to your smartphone. If you do call for service questions, you likely get a call center in Bangalore, India. Calls to most businesses will connect you with automated options and often none fit your question. The only checkout line open at the grocery store is “self-service”.

I feel some resistance to all this elimination of significant human interaction. Maybe it’s just generational – I’m old and don’t change easily.

I enjoy the benefits of smartphones and computers. I order books for my Kindle.

But at Whitestone, real people answer the phone. Nice young people will wait on you at your table. We will take you to your room and explain the individual HVAC controls and show you how the spa tub works. I will check on you at breakfast and dinner.

Never underestimate the value of interaction with your fellow humans. It’s a part of why Whitestone is “A Sanctuary For The Soul”.

Y’all come. We will talk to you.