Keep this under your tongue please

How many times do you remember that order from your mother, when she was taking your temperature? Most of my fellow "boomers," grew up using those old glass thermometers. Like so many innovations in our modern world, we now have digitized thermometers.

The idea for this story came to me a couple of days ago, during a customer service call, to the DISH network. Our satellite television was experiencing some problems, and I called to see if the condition was system wide, or just at our home.

Before I was able to get the answer to my question, I was routed through two lower level call center operators, before finally getting to visit with a "tech" specialist.

There were two revelations that came my way during that service call. First, the tech specialist and I were able to determine that the reception problem was caused by an oak tree in our back yard. This particular tree was planted 12 years ago. Recently, a portion of its limbs had grown into the path between the satellite dish and the satellite, located in the southwest horizon.

That was when I remembered, that the same problem had occurred last summer, and it had happened, when the tree leaves were in full foliage. During the winter, the leafless limbs had not interfered with the signal.

The second discovery, had to do with the nationality of this "techie." He was a very pleasant young man, and he seemed to know his business as well as anyone, that I've dealt with, during such a call. I did perceive a very slight, but noticeable accent.

Before we decided that the tree was my problem, I had told him that we had experienced a thunderstorm the day before, and wondered if that could have contributed to the issue. I asked him where he was located, as I thought he might have heard from other customers in the area, who had experienced the same thunderstorms.

I was not overly surprised, when he told me his office was located in Mexico City. The first two operators had noticeable accents, so I had no way of knowing what country they were from. My television and satellite are now back in working order, but this service call caused me to consider a few issues, regarding jobs and foreigners.

Currently, our nation is blessed to enjoy a lifestyle that is unparalleled in human history. In every part of our lives, technology has given us wonderful inventions. Along with these magnificent devices, there has been a corresponding loss of jobs, due to a couple of work related issues.

The first problem is at the core of technology itself. In every type of work, technology has contributed job losses. There are countless places where we can see this, but one example, that has affected us locally, involves hay hauling.

Most of the "boomers" my age, who grew up in this area, remember hauling bales of hay during the summer. It was looked upon, as both a job, and a rite of passage.

A modern day Vernon County farmer can't afford to use the old methods of manual hay production, even if they could find the young men willing to do the work.

Technology has done away with many other jobs beside that of hay hauling, but it has also added employment opportunities. Remember those tech specialists that I contacted at the DISH Customer Service Center? Each of those employees was working at a location outside of the United States.

Many Americans are angry and want the government to do something about this problem. On the face of it, that would seem to be an easy fix, but in actuality, that is not the case.

The companies that provide these call center services, have repeatedly indicated, their preference to employ Americans in these positions. They actually offer decent pay and benefits, and they prefer having people on the phones, that Americans can understand.

We have a call center located on North Osage, right here in town. I have not interviewed directly anyone from that center, but I have heard disturbing news from multiple sources, regarding the center's inability to find and keep good employees. The prospect of sitting at desk, answering customer service calls, appears to not be very inviting to many.

Our country's economy for most of our history was built around our industry and agriculture. In both of these enterprises, technology has changed the way they operate. I haven't even mentioned the robotic machines that will soon do away with even more jobs.

My visit with the service center was a real wakeup call for me, and it should be for all of us. If everything can be accomplished more efficiently, without actual human involvement, what will people do for jobs in the future?

Last week, there was a collision between a large passenger airplane and a drone. Drones are everywhere these days. Amazon is reportedly planning to use drones for home deliveries in the future. They already use robots in their warehouses, instead of humans.

In most cases like this, I always think I have the answer to the problem. On this technology versus job confrontation, I find myself at a loss. There just don't seem to be any easy solutions.

Every business and industry is at the mercy of production costs. Just like the hay farmer in our local area, they are not going to turn back the clock and do their work the old fashioned way.

These are the age-old questions. If we don't use human labor to produce things, where will the people find the jobs, so they can earn the money to buy the products?

This problem is only going to get worse. Those same call center people from other countries may soon find their jobs gone. We have all heard computer operators on the other end of the line. It won't be long before a robot nurse tells me to open wide!