Summary

The author reflects on a chaotic experience at a Chipotle restaurant, which serves as a microcosm for broader societal issues stemming from privilege and the expectation of convenience, leading to labor shortages and the inevitable rise of automation.

Abstract

The article recounts the author's frustrating visit to a Chipotle, where long wait times and a stressed environment underscore a societal shift towards privilege and convenience. The author describes a scene of customers and workers in distress due to the inefficiency of the system, exacerbated by a pandemic-era labor shortage. This expectation of quick, low-cost service is seen as a byproduct of societal advancements, where the ease of living has bred a sense of entitlement. The author suggests that this entitlement has led to a breakdown in the workforce, with workers disinclined to engage in low-wage jobs and customers growing increasingly impatient. The piece also touches on the impact of technological advancements, such as the potential for robots to replace human labor in the service industry, as a response to these societal changes. The author concludes by questioning the motivations behind such progress, fearing that society's relentless pursuit of convenience and profit may lead to its own detriment, with robots becoming the new standard to maintain an unsustainable lifestyle.

Opinions

The author believes that societal advancements have led to an expectation of convenience, which has negatively impacted the workforce and customer behavior.
There is a clear frustration with the current state of the service industry, particularly with the long wait times and labor shortages.
The author sympathizes with the overworked Chipotle staff and criticizes the unrealistic expectations placed upon them by entitled customers.
The piece suggests that the pursuit of high shareholder returns is driving companies like Chipotle to consider replacing human workers with robots, regardless of the human cost.
The author sees the increasing reliance on technology and automation as a double-edged sword, necessary to meet high societal demands but potentially leading to a dehumanized future.
There is a sense of irony and criticism towards the "privileged" society that has become too lazy and expects everything to be fast and easy, which the author views as unsustainable.
The author predicts that the trend towards automation will continue, with examples like autonomous buses and delivery drones becoming more commonplace as society progresses.

Privilege has ruined society

The Robots are Coming, And It’s Your Fault

My experience at Chipotle confirmed this

Chipotle Restaurant (Brown U) — Chipotle Media Kit 2022

As I approached the door to Chipotle at 7:45pm CT last night, someone inside had their back against the glass — never a good sign. I got that uneasy feeling, the one when your hope of a quick stop trickles out of your body, and you realize your ass is going to be there a while.

Getting to the pick up counter was pushing through a sea of lifeless bodies — literally. A white man stood with a baby near the door, probably no more than a few months old covered in blankets. Two Indian children lay sprawled out over a table as they could no longer sit for a minute more. A black guy sat on the ledge of the soda machine counter already clutching one Chipotle bag, but I guess he was waiting for another one to come through the pick up portal.

This mob of diverse lifeless souls only wanted some burritos on a Friday night. Everyone thought they were so smart — order online, arrive at your pickup time, go right to the counter to get your bag, then smile as you passed the losers on the way out the door. But tonight, everyone would be a loser…

My saga started with placing my order on my iPad a little after 7:00pm. My wife had a taste for Chipotle, and needed to get back to the house quickly, so she didn’t have time to stop on her way in — or maybe she saw the line in the parking lot and wanted to punish me [I’ll never know]. The “new” app was apparently worse than the last. After putting in all of our orders for delivery, upon clicking the checkout button the app rudely told me that delivery was not available, probably due to there not being enough drivers — I’m only 2.5 miles away. So, I switched the order to pick-up. The 7:30pm window had magically disappeared by the time I tried to checkout again, so I had to pick the next nearest time at 7:50pm.

When I arrived at Chipotle at 7:45pm, I would later find out people had been waiting over an hour to get their food. The backup was so bad and the lot so full, people had to use the daycare’s parking spaces in the next lot over.

Workers don’t want to work; customers want to rage over their burrito.

This is what happens in a fast-growing city in Texas, on a Friday night, during a pandemic when no one wants to work anymore for $12/hour. After all, it’s apparently easier to stay home and trade NFTs for money. In all fairness, after what I saw last night, you couldn’t pay me double to work at Chipotle. Those workers were busting their ass and still being professional while everyone stared them down with an evil eye.

I ended up leaving, going to Walmart to do what would have been Saturday grocery shopping, and coming back 60 minutes later only to witness more zombies still in the lot and my order still not ready. As I walked up to the cashier to check that I had not missed my order, they literally shouted my beautiful name.

Too Much Privilege

As advancements are made in society, life gets easier for people. But when society is not careful, that ease becomes an expectation — people forget the old ways, and expect everything to be fast, low cost, and easy. Ultimately, we get to where we are today where expectation has led to everyone feeling privileged. Workers don’t want to work; customers want to rage over their burrito. We’re left with a society of everyone wanting to be selfish — focused on number one. But capitalism must go on… what? You didn’t hear… shareholders are privileged too. They want 30% returns every single year, so Chipotle better figure out how to get those damn burritos out the door even if every single worker calls in sick.

How else is Chipotle going to justify their $1,597 USD per share stock price? Greedy shareholders don’t care if they kill those workers behind the counter or bring in the robots.

Bring in The Bots

So, here we are, companies will find a way — and they are. We have robotic arms now that can flip burgers and make cocktails. And let’s not even talk about Boston Dynamics. Whether it’s keeping humans truly out of danger for the greater good, or just being fed up with whiny humans that are lazy, the robots are coming.

Don’t blame anyone when they roll out the autonomous buses to take your kids to school.

Just two days prior to my Chipotle experience, another rant was happening on Nextdoor. There was such a lack of bus drivers now, that some school buses had over 70 students on one bus. Little kids were having to stand because there wasn’t enough bus drivers to make the rounds. The district sent out a letter telling parents to please consider taking their own kids to school by car rather than putting them on the bus. If not, the bus drivers would be forced to leave some kids on the curb and double back later for a second pickup. Well, you know the privileged parents went “nucking futs” — how dare the district not magically find new drivers to shuttle their kids to school! So, again, here we are in 2022 and things are just getting worse. But progress won’t stop. Don’t blame anyone when they roll out the autonomous buses to take your kids to school.

Marty, the robot, shot your kid in the ass with a laser because he wouldn’t sit down on the bus.

Everywhere I go, I see why the robots are no longer a nice to have, but a necessity. We’ve gotten too lazy and too privileged.

Don’t want to drive long distances because you can’t check your Instagram every 5 minutes? Buy a Tesla and put it on autopilot. Now, you can sit on your phone all day and get to where you’re going in the comfort of your own vehicle.

DoorDash drivers striking for higher wages? Fine, we’ll just roll out the drones and delivery bots. My city was one of the first to pilot this program. Guess what, it still took hours to get your food.

Conclusion

Progress moves forward, but not always for the right reasons. There is a happy medium where robots could have helped that crew at Chipotle meet demand faster on a Friday night. But no one is listening. Everyone is too angry — you’re either antagonizing or being antagonized.

We’ve gone so far with privilege that now robots are required to maintain this crazy high standard of living.

During the night, I dreamt I was a billionaire, and I went back to that Chipotle restaurant and handed every worker a check for $10,000 just because they deserved it.

I pray for those workers at Chipotle and I pray for those people who just can’t seem to calm down. Society will crumble and we’ll be left with a bunch of lifeless robots, sitting around waiting for their masters’ next instructions, long after we’ve killed ourselves.

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