Goodman’s planet very dreary place

Robert H. Harris Jr. Albemarle County
Published: July 27, 2008

The planet on which Ellen Goodman lives sounds like a very dreary place. At least, that is the impression she gives in her column “Outsourcing labor ... to you!” (The Daily Progress, July 21).

Consider this list of chores she feels that she is expected to perform: Swiping her credit card herself at an “upscale” restaurant, as if she “were in a supermarket” — oh, the disrespect, the humiliation, the pain! Booking her own movie tickets. Checking herself in at a hotel kiosk. Pumping her own gas. Booking her own itinerary for a plane trip and printing her own boarding pass. Checking her own bank balance. Who wouldn’t be depressed?

She also feels that she is expected to buy do-it-yourself kits to check herself for HIV and blood pressure, seemingly unaware that, at least here on planet Earth, doctors’ offices do these things for people all day long. Similarly, she claims to be burdened with being her own pension planner and financial analyst, though here again, there are plenty of professionals who would be delighted to do that for her.

Actually, I see nothing in her checklist of complaints that she could not readily have someone perform for her, from checking into a hotel, to booking a plane flight, to filling up her car with gas — provided she is willing to pay for someone else’s time and effort.