an empty place v3.5

According to these pictures on Flickr, KFC and Taco Bell (divisions of YUM! Brands Inc. [Hoovers]) have started down the path of automation. What exactly does this mean? It seems to me that by doing this you are reducing even further the level of customer service training our youth are receiving. When I worked at Taco Bell a very long time ago customer service was stressed by management. I mean it was a BIG deal. And at 14, that experience made for an excellent foundation. These days however, it hardly seems as though customer service is as emphasized as it was. Sure, the onus of responsibility would lie with management and enforcing higher levels of service as well as with the clerk. There's no denying that.

So what happens when they add these ATM-esque human replacements? It is just one more excuse to not practice higher standards of service. But still, I don't see how even supplementing the face-to-face experience with a non-human interface is going to help. If it takes 90 seconds from the time an order is placed to delivery, that's how long it is going to take. Period. The problem is, once you punch in your order and slide your card, those 90 seconds are going to seem to take longer than it would if you were actually being forced to interact with that pimple-faced slacker. Trust me, computers don't like to chit-chat. No matter how much you chatter, poke, and glare at them, they just don't care that it would be a great day to be at the beach but its stuck in this hell hole for another 4 hours because the manager is a prick.

You just can't commiserate with a machine.