La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz for April 20, 2024

Don’t worry they will lower the cost of the coffee once they get rid of the workers.

You’ll be replaced by robots no matter how little you make.

If labor is unlinked from production, it must also be unlinked from survival.

Coffee bot? Vending machines coming back?

Good ol’ California raised minimum wage to $20, and pizza joints promptly let they delivery drivers go. Foster’s Freeze is closing multiple stores. Me thinks the politicians don’t really care, they are just trying to get votes.

Once the labor cost is reached that exceeds the cost to amortize and maintain automation is reached, that is how it has always gone.

And the bots will still mess up my order

No robot can convincingly portray the harried disinterest of the Starbucks employee reciting their “script” at you.

I prefer the old-style coffeehouses where condescending college students served the coffee with exasperated humor and sass.

I’ve boycotted self-checkout from the beginning. This year it looks like companies are noticing that they need to change them.

I could see myself ordering from a robot at an amusement park, as a novelty. But I’d boycott it as a mainstream thing. I want some human interaction, even if I choose to order ahead with an app.