Online check-in is a process which should genuinely increase the efficiency of the airport experience, thereby costing you less time. But what the airlines do is employ so few people to supervise the bag drop-off that there’s no time-saving at all for the customer. Because airlines have to employ more people to supervise the non-online-checked-in customers – otherwise the planes wouldn’t leave on time – the non-checked-in queues move far more quickly. They’re transferring their inefficiency to the customer, but what they’re also doing is transferring the labour to you and accumulating the surplus value themselves. (John Lanchester, London Review of Books , 2/29.12)
Bravo! Precisely. And this is happening in all types of business, not just the airline business. So what does a sensible person do? He/she goes into the garden, has a nice long chat with a friend, does some planting and watering at this time of the year, and maybe, if super-sensible, he/she stays at home and avoids air travel. This is the true Epicurean way. Unfortunately, no one can totally avoid the ruthless big company – but we can all try.
…trying to avoid the ruthless big companies….wouldnt this bring the economy to a grinding halt, since most companies important to our very existance, such as energy, food, and medicine are all ruthless big companies???
No, I agree, you can’t avoid them all, and you have to live with most of them because they have managed to create their own monopolies, at any rate in America, where monopoly seems quite o.k. But what I mean is to avoid the stress of dealing with them as much as possible and not wasting precious time signing up for their emails, buying stuff that they advertise unless it is essential, etc. One should try to find more civilised alternatives where they exist. Where I live we have the alternative of two ruthless highwaymen if we want phone, internet and TV. I have reluctantly decided that, faced with a “money-or-your life” scenario i just have to pay up and not even try to query enormous bills – it is too stressful and there is no trained or remotely caring person the other end of the phone to deal with my query. You are wasting your time. They will disappear eventually, although maybe not in my lifetime.
“He/she. . . avoids air travel. This is the true Epicurean way.”
You’re right! Advice I will take to heart. : )
We certainly have to run the traps to avoid these commercial monstrosities. I sin often–cable, coffee, Amazon, internet. As my six year-old grandson says in moments of frustration: “I’m doomed!”