U-scan...

Part of the fun of living in a small town is that we get "modernized" much later than the rest of the world. When I moved here in 1994 you had to drive 10 miles to the nearest ATM. Now we have 4. The closest traffic light or fast food is 30 miles away.

I went into the grocery store in Hotchkiss last week, and...voila! We got 4 new U-scan check out machines. I know it is a small thing and kind of geeky, but I was psyched! No more waiting in line while the family of eight, with 2 bulging carts (full of the most amazing crap! I swear I counted 16 frozen pizzas and 6 liters of soda) checks out. Of course, they are best friends with the checker and have to catch up and all I have is friggin' doughnut (my own amazing crap!)

This time I was in and out of there in no time...U-scan...U-rock!

The next time I was at the store, I grabbed a few things and out of habit, got into a check out line. I struck up a conversation with an old guy about corn (I am reading "Omnivores Dilemma" right now) and how corn is an ingredient in almost in every processed food on the shelves and in much of the packaging. He ended telling me about his diabetes, how much he missed orange juice and how he once drank 200 year old corn whiskey. He seemed a little addled, so I don't know how much was true, but it was interesting. The checker asked about my kids, if the Broncos would have a good year and if I was hunting this year (I don't hunt, but I am a male in a rural area, so it is assumed I kill my own meat).

As I was leaving the store, I noticed the U-scans and dang it! I had "wasted" time by not using the U-scan. I swore next time, I would use the U-scan and would remember, really remember, my cloth grocery bags. On the drive home I was spacing out and re-calling the conversations I had in the check out, the surreptitious pleasure of reading the headlines on all the trashy magazines and how generous it was that the checker assumed I was macho enough to kill my own meat!

Cha-Ching! Epiphany! If I had used the self-serve lane, I would've missed out on all that cool, very ordinary, fun human contact.

Which is one of the main reasons we moved to this valley. To have more familiarity, involvement and social intimacy with our fellow inhabitants. To get away from the anonymous crowds of the big city and connect with people. That small, everyday event represents so many values that I cherish: friendliness, openness, talking/meeting different people, establishing relationships with folks who serve you, being in the moment with the people in your community, not being so god damned rushed and busy.

U-scan is just another way to buy into the rush,rush, rush which can cut us off from each other. The narcissistic trends of our culture don't need any more encouragement.

So I am opting for the traditional check out lanes, checkers with cool hummingbird tattoos, trashy tabloids and I swear I will remember my cloth grocery bags.