It started with convenience, everything in one place, free parking, lots of choice. Moving into larger stores, more shops available, 24 hours shopping. Supermarkets gradually took over as the main source of the family weekly shop, with many citing it as the Death of High Street, but years later, many smaller shops still remained, although getting less and less. My article highlighted a particular issue I found with local shops, so supermarkets got my business instead. But times are changing again, with supermarkets now being a major player in trying to roll out digital and automation, using something extremely necessary for survival. Food. Written about in If you control the food, it’s become very obvious of late that there are moved to control, restrict and change what people are ‘allowed’ to eat, as well as wanting everyone to be monitored and controlled through I.D’s, apps and routine medical testing. To me supermarkets are a possible front line for this change to take place, and if people realise what part they are playing, and how important they are, maybe it will change how some people view this situation.

I’ll note the problems I have with some of the new things moving in, from things I have read and articles I have seen over the last few months.

• Access via app stores only – where you won’t be allowed into the store unless you have a smart phone, which has the stores app on it, which you must sign up for, and scan in with. No app, no entry. Just like the good old days, if your names not down, your not coming in, kind of thing.
• More self-service tills – many have differing views on this, some like the streamlined aspect of it, no human interaction, and all very ordered, or so it seems. Because often they have issues, and always there is a human presence to deal with said issues, or give guidance to the untrained person being expected to use the equipment. But the main gripe people who aren’t on board have is that it is an obvious move to cut down on staff, and to save/make more money for the company, while all the while the shopping environment becomes a more sterile atmosphere, but doesn’t seem to be as nice, or clean as before. So sterile in attitude, not in appearance or efficiency unfortunately.
• Petrol pumps – it seems that some places, while it seemed easier to pay at the pump, a new rule, apparently introduced by the banks, is that they will reserve an amount of around £120.00 from your bank, and refund/return what you don’t spend within up to 60 minutes. Another seriously cheeky move in the game of money, transaction and charges. I have shared my views on Cash and the money they make from us having money, so this is just another move to have more say than they should about what is done with your money. Because once you hand it over to the bank, are you really in control of it anymore?

But supermarkets like I said, play a frontline role in this, because if enough people just blithely download these things, and allow others to be restricted or refused food because they didn’t download an app, or didn’t want to have a phone with them, then we are in real trouble. Which may be so, because given how recent events went, and many people without a seconds hesitation, actually wished people harm because they didn’t ‘do as they were told’. So, if someone is threatened with no access to food, what will they do? Will they refuse? Will they shout about it? Will they comply? I guess we will see where people will fall on that one, if the authorities and corporations are allowed to continue with their agendas and targets which seem set on decimating the food chain and normal food, farming and agricultural systems in place. So, it is Convenience, or dependence? because it seems awfully like we are being streamlined to fit around their corporate systems, targets and services. The consumer becomes the consumed…

(c) K Wicks