I have missed your comparison articles! Everything you described of the US is solidly real and becoming increasingly inconvenient as they try to incorporate technology into the most basic of tasks.
The newer generations were born into technology that we (GenX) didn't have when we were their age. So they do not see how unnecessary some things are. I can see if they were to go to an urban city in another country -such as Valencia, Spain- and not assimilate easily. Going from car dependent, to walking? Carrying your groceries while you walk home? Kids don't walk anymore, they ride electric scooters.. on the roads.. with the cars. It is mayhem.
I drive to three different grocery stores, once a week, on my 1-2 day weekends. Grocery shopping should not take half a day to accomplish, but it does, and stopping during the week can add hours to your work day. It is a pre-shopping hunt through apps and websites.. which makes it really un-fun. The newest thing are stores that make you use an app in-store to get a discount price. So not only do you have to get online to find the best prices before you shop, you have to get online at the store to "clip coupons" while you shop. They have QR codes on everything now. It's like a circus.
One new thing I have become aware of, the State has removed outgoing mailboxes. You have to drive to the Post Office across town to mail anything. The postal carrier does not check for outgoing mail unless he has mail going into your box -and sometimes not even then will he take it.
I have missed your comparison articles! Everything you described of the US is solidly real and becoming increasingly inconvenient as they try to incorporate technology into the most basic of tasks.
The newer generations were born into technology that we (GenX) didn't have when we were their age. So they do not see how unnecessary some things are. I can see if they were to go to an urban city in another country -such as Valencia, Spain- and not assimilate easily. Going from car dependent, to walking? Carrying your groceries while you walk home? Kids don't walk anymore, they ride electric scooters.. on the roads.. with the cars. It is mayhem.
I drive to three different grocery stores, once a week, on my 1-2 day weekends. Grocery shopping should not take half a day to accomplish, but it does, and stopping during the week can add hours to your work day. It is a pre-shopping hunt through apps and websites.. which makes it really un-fun. The newest thing are stores that make you use an app in-store to get a discount price. So not only do you have to get online to find the best prices before you shop, you have to get online at the store to "clip coupons" while you shop. They have QR codes on everything now. It's like a circus.
One new thing I have become aware of, the State has removed outgoing mailboxes. You have to drive to the Post Office across town to mail anything. The postal carrier does not check for outgoing mail unless he has mail going into your box -and sometimes not even then will he take it.
Making the extra effort to shop and buy locally is the right philosophy.
Not at any price though. There is a point where if there is too much of a premium to “go local” that you have to buy at the right price.
We tried hard with all the renovation and fitting out of our mountain place to buy locally. Largely, it worked.
Your article reminds me of the two “Saturday Markets” I experienced on that day of the week in the neighborhood where I stayed in Athens