They did say 'if they don't want to'...and how many of us can honestly say that we want to talk to someone ALL OF THE TIME?

Talking to someone about checking in for a hotel room, after waiting for 10 minutes in a check in line...is not what I would call a fulfilling experience. Communication does not make us human, plenty of other species communicate...there are far more intricate and unique things that make us what we are.

You're equating someone's wish to not have to wait at a check out counter to being anti-social...come on.

> You're equating someone's wish to not have to wait at a check out counter to being anti-social...come on.

Yes, 10 minutes waiting in a hotel lobby, which is by definition a societal space, is, well, social. Actively wanting go avoid that is, well, anti-social.

Anyway, it's a losing battle at this point.

> Actively wanting go avoid that is, well, anti-social.

Ah the epitome of social interactions. An underpaid and overworked service worker mis-hears my name, pretends to not find me in the system then gives me a card. Well worth queuing for!

But you know it is a must, since if I continue the conversation with my travel companion uninterrupted all the way to our room then I am actively tearing apart the fabric of society.

> Anyway, it's a losing battle at this point.

Battle? Why do you care how others choose to live their life this much? Are they hurting you?

Yes, it hurts me to see the social fabric tearing itself apart. It’s on us, people of “today”, to try to keep it in one place as best as we can and to pass it forward to those that will come after us.

> ince if I continue the conversation with my travel companion uninterrupted all the way to our room then I am actively tearing apart the fabric of society.

Yes, the social norms (of the past, at this point) say that you should interrupt the discussion with your travel companion and engage with the person from the other side of the counter (the hotel receptionist in this case).

I think you are not understanding introverts. Social interaction is extremely draining for us, so we carefully manage that energy for interactions that also offer a lot of value in return, e.g. friends and colleagues. If we can reduce unnecessary interactions, this leaves more for being social where it’s valuable, making it possible for us to be pro social.

I love parties, deep conversations, etc. but as an introverted person, a day of excessive unnecessary interaction makes those interactions I do enjoy no longer enjoyable, and just a chore. By managing my social energy I am able to be a warm, friendly, and outgoing social person. If you met me at a party you probably would not guess that I’m introverted, because I am not antisocial.

Maybe they just don't want to talk to the kind of people who work at customer service jobs in the US...

Which is exactly the problem I was pointing out, i.e. even greater segregation for our society as a whole, even greater alienation at the individual level.

Maybe, but what's the alternative? Stand in line for 20 minutes so you can deal with a surly customer service person who's too busy playing on their phone to help you, and has a bad attitude too?

Here in Japan, it's entirely different. Customer service people are always polite, so it's always pleasant dealing with them, though westerners frequently complain that such people here aren't "chatty" like Americans; instead they're really efficient and don't waste peoples' time with chit-chat (which in America, frequently seems to result in making people wait longer unless there's only one customer). But I also don't see the segregation in society that I saw in America.

I'm concerned about an economy where the different strata never interact with each other. It's all too easy to lose compassion for the people who keep the world running for you if you never see them. If you have a delivery driver brave the elements to bring you food, you should have to face them.

However it's nice to do things on your own sometimes. For example I love McDonalds self-checkout because it speaks my language everywhere on the planet, and gives me all the time I need to prepare my order.

It is concerning indeed, and what’s more concerning is an economy where tech pushes out most jobs. Where will it lead to? What are non tech people supposed to work?

On one hand, you can't artificially preserve jobs that are not needed. You can't keep mining coal to protect the coal miners.

On the other, automation concentrates wealth in the pockets of those who finance it. Automated checkout machines do not benefit fast food workers, only investors. What happens when you automate a third or a half of the workforce like that?

I hope that we can share the spoils of all this innovation, because the future will be very bleak otherwise.

The problem is related to how hotels (and hospitality in general) are hiring. No one is willing to pay the money any more for staff that is qualified for more than entering data into a computer, or for enough staff to keep waiting lines short.

I travel for work semi frequently and my wife and I started “digital nomadding” six months out of the year flying across the country staying in mostly Hilton brand hotels.

I fly in. Click on the hotel address on the Hilton app that takes me to Apple Maps and get an Uber to the hotel through Maps. On the ride to the hotel, I do the digital check in, request my digital key and walk directly to the room.

I’m going to be talking to people all day the next day.

I favour it because I hate having to endure upsell attempts.

Some human interaction is essential for your mental health, but not all human interaction is good for your mental health. Especially if it involves waiting in line before subjecting yourself to bureaucratic drudgery. If they can make those experiences smoother, I'm all for it.

What do you mean "where does it come from"? People can't have their own personalities or preferences and be not-so-sociable? And regarding "It's what makes us humans", I'm sorry that's not true and also you don't get to define what human is.

You believe that the interaction I have with the Hotel Front Desk person is a meaningful social interaction, whereby if I do not have it I would need to seek mental health treatment?

Really? That is your position?

> Really? That is your position?

Yes, that is my position. Why wouldn't it be? Society is formed of all people, not only acquaintances and friends. Yes, including the hotel receptionist.

> whereby if I do not have it I would need to seek mental health treatment

Yes, when people were not treating people such as hotel receptionists like the other that is not worthy of our attention then we were doing way better on the mental health front.