Thank you, Hilary Freeman, for catching and coining the central movement which is sickening us all: “the slow erosion of human contact that heralds the dehumanisation of yet another society” (Hell is not other people – it’s being stuck in the ninth circle of an automated telephone service, 22 April).
We need it, we will die without it. For Freeman, it comes with the introduction of ATMs to Tuvalu; for me, it’s the self-checkout tills of the Co-op around the corner. I used to chat to Brenda. I can’t do it now, and something dies inside me. Let’s determinedly start a queue at a vacant till, on and on, until someone, with a heave of impatient sighs, gives in.
Alison Leonard
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
• Until I read Hilary Freeman’s article I thought I was alone in my crusade against this creeping supermarket menace. When asked: “Wouldn’t you prefer to use the self‑checkout?” I answer: “No thanks, I don’t work here.”
Jobs are at risk as more self-service tills are introduced and supermarkets look to increase their profits. What will they be asking us to do next? Stack the shelves and sweep the floors? Just say no.
Anthony Blane
Nottingham
• Unlike Hilary Freeman, I like self-checkouts and I find the notion that we older people are somehow desperate for human contact with supermarket staff very offensive. I want the minimum time in the supermarket so I can get out and interact with my real friends. If I want to talk in a shop, I’ll do it in an independent shop at a time when there are no queues.
Clifford Challenger
Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire
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