As Inescapable as the Rising Tide.
ANNNNND, masking among children in Japan appears to be in the increase.
First, I wished to include in my last posting was what my kid and I experienced last Sunday but forgot. Sunday was the day of the monthly big test which determines what class level they will be in first the next month. The testing site this time was at a university roughly an hour outside of Tokyo. I saw hundreds of kids on the way to and at the testing venue. Of these hundreds, I saw 6 unmasked, one being my own kid. Four of these I saw off campus and they may have donned masks once they entered the gate. I know for certain none of the kids wearing masks took theirs off once they entered the campus.
My kid said they were the only unmasked examinee in the room they were in. Around 120 students, they thought. This is from a 10 year old, so the number may be exaggerated, however, they were the lone unmasked child in of a room with many children. All the kids were either 9 or 10 years old.
Up to four years ago, I spent a lot of time in Akihabara for work. Variety being the spice of life, I located a fair number of places for lunch and dinner. most are now out of business, not surviving the three and a half years of on again off again lockdowns lite that were almost always extended. One I had forgotten about until year’s end was Subway, the subway sandwich place. After I remembered it, I did swing by but there was a long line waiting to use the touch screen ordering panels. Pressed for time, I opted for a very good yet over priced and too small sandwich at a coffee house instead. I decided to try again today.
While not empty, it was not crowded and I was able to quickly get to one of three self ordering kiosks. After spending more time than verbally giving my order would have taken as I tried to navigate the menus, I placed my order. Then it asked for payment. Cash was not an option given. After cancelling my order, I went to the counter and asked if I can use cash. “Sorry but no. We are all cashless now.” Earlier I reported that moser and more locations are switching to cashierless ordering and an all cashless local micro brew beer event, but I think that this is the first B&M store that I encountered that is cashless only. As the incoming tide, the cashless society is rising.
Ended up going to a chain store that I used to frequent, Sukiya. They have a multi cheese beef bowl that I love though not as much as I used to. The were among the first, and may have been the first I encountered that switched to touch screen ordering at you table. Before this change, which was years ago now, I could order an extra topping of cheese. That option is not available on the touchscreen ordering system. After that change, my visits there became infrequet.
Experience teaches that many will think and might have responded “Well, just eat somewhere else.” This misses the bigger picture. What will we do when every single business on the planet is “cashless”? Unless we ACT to stop this, it will continue to inundate every aspect of life.
In my ever more distracted state, I neglected to include the following. While at Sukiya, 4 other customers settled their bill with digital currency. The electronic voiced “PayPay” one hears when that service is used is a dead give away. All four used it. This is my wife’s preferred method of payment.
I, we can patronize only those places that accept cas for as long as they continue to do so, but we are few against multitudes.
The cashless society will herd us into a world without individual choice, the machine will tell you what to choose from it and will be limited and not what you want but who can argue against a machine. It is a depressing thought.