[Dean's World] Scott Kirwin: Job Disappearances

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Posted by Scott Kirwin:
Job Disappearances
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1141835625.shtml


   When I was a tot growing up in St. Louis's South Side, a man pushed a
   cart through the neighborhood sharpening scissors and knives for a
   small fee. Similarly, I recall a hot tamale vendor selling some of the
   best tasting hot tamales around which, years later, I find rather odd
   since the area was a mix of Italians, Germans and Irish. I also recall
   home delivery of milk (which may not have disappeared everywhere, but
   I sure haven't seen any milk bottles on porches in decades).

   Job disappearance is nothing new in our economy. Some claim it is
   Progress but the older I get the more I question that assumption by
   asking, "Am I better off without ____? - where ____ is the product or
   service that has disappeared. I find that in many cases - like the
   scissor sharpener - I either learn to do the task myself or buy
   another one. Given the fact that consumption now is the basis for our
   economy, the latter is preferred from a purely economic standpoint -
   although it doesn't make sense from environmental or budgetary ones.
   So, what jobs/services have disappeared in your lifetime and are you
   better off without them? Finally, which jobs do you think will
   disappear over the coming years?

   I am going to go out on a limb and say that I forsee the job of
   professional journalist disappearing - or at least the need for a
   degree to get a job as a one. Another job I expect to see disappear
   within a few short years is supermarket cashier - going the way of the
   "bagger" or "bag boy". I commonly find myself waiting in line to scan
   my own groceries and bag them, all the while fighting with a
   computerized voice saying "Please remove the last item from the bag."

   Is my life better without supermarket cashiers and bag boys?
   Definitely not.