Anne Wilks sidesteps automated tellers at the supermarket for the personal contact with a checkout operator. File photo / 123rf.com
Banks are eliminating cheques and closing or shortening the hours of branches, trying to avoid physical contact by offering deposit slots, ATMs and online passwords coded to numbered accounts.
Corporates are using measures to inveigle customers to go online by offering discounts, bonuses, or even cash draws to
allow trans-account and automatic payments or suffer additional charges or transaction fees.
Individual contact email addresses are not furnished for direct communication, but telephone numbers are offered for a digital menu of pre-determined reasons for calling.
Letters are addressed "Hi!" to a first name, a presumption that relegates the recipient to an anonymous pal.
These are presented as saving time for the busy user, but the truth is they save much more time for those trying to make their workers redundant.
Our subservience to "growth" and overpopulation has meant we are now digitised, rather than keeping our unique identities, and any inclination to personify service is discouraged by the timekeepers.
To my surprise I have become a latter-day Luddite who pays bills personally at the Post Office; visits tellers at banks to conduct transactions; and do not use the self-help supermarket checkouts but wheels my trolley up to the checkout operator and says "hi!"
Anne Wilks, Devonport.
In the case of the Darroch family dental debacle (NZ Herald, August 26), the response of the HDC is worse than useless.
They refuse to do anything about other people who may be affected and its only through the Herald that people know of this problem.
What is worse, is that they consider it appropriate to take advice from a peer of the failed provider rather than a qualified person.
This means that the HDC will do nothing and these disasters will continue. This requires more than retraining in the HDC.
Neville Cameron, Coromandel.
In 2018, the balance of trade between the US and China was US$222 billion. Thanks to the trade war, that deficit fell 4.1 per cent over the year.
In the trade war, the US has the advantage because China has nowhere to sell her goods if the US stops buying. China is the world's greatest trade cheater.
The trade war will force China to grant concessions to the US. With a bit of luck, New Zealand will be able to watch from the sidelines until peace is declared and the US wins. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because Trump is a fool, that everything he does is wrong.
John Caldwell, Howick.
"I'm only dealing with the next three years," says John Tamihere at the end of the article proclaiming his latest desperate tactic (NZ Herald, August 26). How revealing. Like many right-wing politicians, his only focus is winning the election – and if that means resorting to the corny old "tax cut" trick (and to hell with the consequences) he will unashamedly go there. Power at any cost.
By contrast, Phil Goff is addressing the long-neglected issues, creating a city that can fulfil its potential, and investing in a future that will sustain our grandchildren. We need to continue down that track, not suffer a costly setback.
Michael Smythe, Northcote Point.
We finally have a mayoral candidate who is prepared to cross the philosophical divide and engage with astute, skilled and motivated candidates. They may not necessarily agree with every stance that John Tamihere is taking but they have the smarts to understand that neither the left nor the right has all the answers.
From where I sit, Tamihere has some very smart ideas. Freezing rates in a time of record low inflation is a no-brainer. Speeding Auckland traffic up, not slowing it down as Auckland Transport seem to be hellbent on doing is another. Add in the new harbour crossing, that should be built using the taxes (and GST on our rates), that disappears into the consolidated fund, and it all starts to make very good sense. After all Auckland contributes $107 billion to the national economy – all we want back is our fair share! (i.e. 39.2 per cent of $107b is $41.9b).
Phill Goff will have difficulty standing on his record of "achievements". Higher rates, fewer services, fuel taxes and council costs that continue to balloon and it all starts to look very "sketchy" as today's youth insist on saying.
It should be a good stoush for mayor – May the best man (and/or woman) win ..
Roger Hawkins, Herne Bay.
Sadly there seems to be no code of social responsibility around political campaigning (NZ Herald, August 27). The closer we get to the voting deadline of October 12 the more vociferous mayoral hopeful John Tamihere gets which is to be expected but is he digging a massive fiscal whole for the "city of sails"?
Unfortunately what we are getting from Tamihere is a series of obtuse one-liners that sound great but are classic shallow political rhetoric with no regard to financial implications.
A three-year freeze on rate increases and an 18-lane multi-layered harbour bridge are sheer fantasy and don't be surprised if moving Auckland's port to some obscure, impractical location, at some colossal cost, is next in line for his marketing campaign.
Bruce Eliott, St Heliers.
Andrew King's focus (NZ Herald, August 26) is to look after landlords, it is not to improve the rental situation in New Zealand.
I would have hoped that, in his position as executive officer of the Property Investors' Federation, he might have been urging his members to be fair to their tenants. For example, mortgage rates have gone down hugely in the past couple of years. Landlords' costs are down, but where's the corresponding drop in rent for tenants? On the contrary, rents have been steadily going up, with owners of properties capitalising on the shortage of houses. It's the law of supply and demand in the raw.
We hear him crying out to keep the 90-day eviction notice, while admitting that it has hardly ever needed by landlords. Clearly, the vast majority of tenants are not noisy and causing trouble to neighbours. Landlords in this country have it all on their side, including receiving a $2 billion a year subsidy from the government in the form of the Accommodation Allowance which slides through the tenant straight into the pockets of landlords.
Let's hear a bit of appreciation for the New Zealand system that makes it so profitable to own rental property.
Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.
Any popular acceptance of a decision on a set age of retirement (NZ Herald, August 27) is complicated by the fact that these days, many people may have already spent years on a benefit rather than working and paying taxes which contribute to the superannuation funds.
Could it be possible to create a format which sets both the age of retirement and the amount paid in relation to the number of years actually spent in paid employment?
Jeanette Grant, Mt Eden.
It is hypocritical of Western countries to protest about the clearing of the Amazon rain forest. Western countries have become rich on the back of clearing their own forests years ago for fuel, ships and buildings and to allow extensive agriculture.
This is a case of do as I say not as I do - or have done.
Perhaps the best solution is for Western counties to use some of their wealth to lease parts of the Amazon to be held in perpetuity as virgin forest. This would give countries such as Brazil a financial incentive to stop the forest clearance.
D Adams, Mt Albert.
In the old days of test rugby, we had the ridiculous situation where an injured player was not allowed to be replaced. I witnessed a test match in Carisbrook, Dunedin where the All Blacks ended up with 14 players and South Africa had 13 before a packed stadium. Eventually, this rule was changed.
I think when a player is sent off he should be replaced. If this change is made you don't have a packed stadium, after paying top money at the gate, watching 14 playing 14 and the game ruined.
It would also take the pressure of referees if this decision is considered to be marginal.
Let's just punish the offending player.
R D McCallum, Maungaturoto.
On Amazon
As we so ably assisted in fighting fires in Australia and the USA, perhaps we could offer similar assistance to Brazil to save the "lungs of the world" fires there? Danna Glendining, Taupō.
On suicide
On our recent travels, we met a UK-based psychiatrist. We asked what he thought was the cause of increased rates of suicide. He had a two-word answer: social media. R Hall, Takapuna.
On mayoralty
Great idea, John, to sort out the council's wasteful spending, saving $86 million per year and zero rate increases. I would be happy if rates stayed at the rate of inflation and we put the money saved back into improving the city infrastructure. Barry Wood, Howick.
The accepted reply to such a wildly generous rates offer John Tamihere makes is: If it sounds just too good to be true, it probably is. John Simons, Orewa.
I think Auckland needs help. We have one candidate who wants us to pay for his train set and another who has been taking lessons from Donald Trump. Dave Christopher, Papakura.
Please keep up the laughs with your "pie in the sky ideas" we need a good giggle during a wet winter. Perhaps you have plans also of how to reduce the rain? Brenda Barnes, St Heliers.
One candidate wants an 18-lane bridge across the harbour. The other wants to block Dominion Rd with trams. Is there a sensible candidate for mayor? Nick Hamilton, Auckland Central.
On retirement
It's great that National will raise the retirement age; you only lose your marbles the day you stop working anyhow. Very compassionate of them. Glenn Forsyth, Taupō.
It appears to be a tale of two islands for this weekend's weather.