Land of Oz

Missing Jobs

Have you noticed lately how many jobs have disappeared, but the job isn't really gone? Think about jobs like bank tellers, gas station attendants and grocery store checkout people. Not to mention telephone operators, DJs and toll booth attendants. The jobs are going, but not the work. Now you're doing the job they used to do, but you aren't getting paid for it.

Think about it. You stop at an ATM to get money to use when you fill up your car at the local gas station and to pay for groceries in the scan-it-yourself checkout aisle. You might have gotten there via a toll road that used a video camera to view your license plate before sending you a bill. And while driving down the toll road, you probably listened to your IPod that you programmed for music after you called home on your cell phone to find out what to buy for take out which you're eating instead of sitting down in a restaurant having a waiter bring out the food to you.

And don't forget that on the way home, you don't need to pick up a DVD at the store, because there will be one waiting for you in your mailbox - along with the sweater, latest best-seller, and Stanley ratchet screwdriver that you bought over the Internet for home delivery. And if all this makes you a little bit sick, just login into WebMD for some self-diagnosis.