Christmas, 2017, by G. Adams
You come home from work to find the storm door propped open with packages from Amazon.com. They are all addressed to you, but you have no memory of ordering anything from Amazon. You bring the many boxes inside, take off your jacket and go to the fridge to get a glass of water. While the glass if filling, you tell the fridge to search your email for any record of an order. The monitor set into the fridge shows that no orders have been made. You ask the fridge to call Amazon customer service and slip your phone over your ear.
“thank you for calling Amazon, this is Carla. What can I do for you today?”
“Hello, Carla. I received several packages I hadn’t ordered.”
“I guess you haven’t done your Holiday shopping yet?” Carla aks politely.
“No, I was getting to it tonight.”
“That explains it. Those are the items you’re going to be ordering tonight. I can put a list on the television if you like.”
“Excuse me? Things I will order?”
Carla brings up a copy of the invoice on the fridge. “That’s right, these are all items you’ll place orders for tonight. This is part of our new Anticiship© service. Using Cramer’s findings on the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen photon-paradox, we are now able to receive your order before you place it with us, saving both time and money.”
“Wait, so you know what I’m going to order before I order it?”
Carla’s reply is a crisp “Hm-mm.”
You scan the invoice. “But who is this stuff for? I mean, this ‘School House Rock 50th anniversary memory stick,’ who’s that a gift for?”
“I’m not sure, I don’t know all your friends and family,” Carla replies.
“And these gift cards… who did I buy gift cards for?”
“I really don’t know…” Carla replies, managing to sound perfectly agreeable and perfectly frustrated all at the same time.
You think about it for a moment. “So I need to go through the shopping process just the same – make a list and browse online and see what suggest itself for the people on my list.”
“Some people choose to do that, yes.” Carla replies.
“How does this save me time?” you ask. “Will that be all?” Carla asks. When you don’t reply, she chips “Happy Holidays!” and disconnects.
“thank you for calling Amazon, this is Carla. What can I do for you today?”
“Hello, Carla. I received several packages I hadn’t ordered.”
“I guess you haven’t done your Holiday shopping yet?” Carla aks politely.
“No, I was getting to it tonight.”
“That explains it. Those are the items you’re going to be ordering tonight. I can put a list on the television if you like.”
“Excuse me? Things I will order?”
Carla brings up a copy of the invoice on the fridge. “That’s right, these are all items you’ll place orders for tonight. This is part of our new Anticiship© service. Using Cramer’s findings on the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen photon-paradox, we are now able to receive your order before you place it with us, saving both time and money.”
“Wait, so you know what I’m going to order before I order it?”
Carla’s reply is a crisp “Hm-mm.”
You scan the invoice. “But who is this stuff for? I mean, this ‘School House Rock 50th anniversary memory stick,’ who’s that a gift for?”
“I’m not sure, I don’t know all your friends and family,” Carla replies.
“And these gift cards… who did I buy gift cards for?”
“I really don’t know…” Carla replies, managing to sound perfectly agreeable and perfectly frustrated all at the same time.
You think about it for a moment. “So I need to go through the shopping process just the same – make a list and browse online and see what suggest itself for the people on my list.”
“Some people choose to do that, yes.” Carla replies.
“How does this save me time?” you ask. “Will that be all?” Carla asks. When you don’t reply, she chips “Happy Holidays!” and disconnects.
1 comment:
This explains a recent delivery I received from Amazon.com:
A three gallon tub of Vaseline, a copy of Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman, A Wilson Pickett CD, and rat poison.
This technology is amazing.
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