Computers are wonderful slaves, however, they seem to rob their masters of the ability to think.
I was taking a walk to the top of the village, when I noticed a gentleman walk across the road from the public convenience to admire the view.
I could hear someone rattling the door of the disabled toilet, then a banging, accompanied by a female voice calling out - help – I can't get out.
The gentleman the other side of the road admiring the view must I thought, have been deaf, or had decided that the commotion was none of his business.
Fortunately, I have a Letherman key fob, so I knocked on the door and said can I help?
A rather frightened voice said - please, I'm locked in!
I found the slot of the Emergency release, and used the screwdriver device to turn the bolt, then pushed the door open a little way, whereupon a very shaken lady with a walking stick thanked me.
Then she made her way across the road to join her husband, who was still admiring the view, unaware of his disabled wife's plight.
It got me thinking about how disability, frailty and carers of children and the elderly is impacted by the outsourcing of planning to bureaucratically programmed computers.
I had recently filled in a form from the surgery about this very issue, and was surprised to find that loss of smell was deemed a disability.
Good Lord I thought – I'm disabled!
https://open.substack.com/pub/tombarriesimmons/p/another-medical-story?r=4zowca&utm_medium=ios
I guess walking around with dog poo on your shoe, is one thing. But when there is an electrical fire, or the microwave tries to incinerate itself, then the ability to smell burning plastic could definitely be a lifesaver.
The Village has a surgery, which used to be open five days a week. Now, the dispensary is open four days, and the doctor and practice nurse visit once a week.
The powers that be wish to close it, because the main surgery is within 3 miles. This may be so, if you are a crow, or a seagull, but for anybody with mobility problems, the passenger ferry that crosses to the town half a mile away is impossible, and in stormy weather the service is cancelled.
So, I wonder, thinking about the frustrations caused to anyone caught up in a problem that falls outside the parameters of the algorithm, whether there shouldn't be an emergency button labelled – Judgement of Solomon.
But then I guess the decision would have to be run through an algorithm to pick a label that nobody could misunderstand, or be offended by, like – speak to a representative!
Husband still admiring the view while his wife was locked in there is brutal in a very ordinary way… That little detail does more side eye work than a whole speech…