On the one hand, the JWST is hurtling through space at over 35,000kmph to the second Lagrange point, or L2. It shall open up vistas for humankind that have not even been imagined before this. We await with bated breath as it begins its final checks before starting to unfold its giant sun-shield and the interlocking mirrors that will allow us to see the very origins of this Universe.
At the same time, we are receiving mails from Amazon India (wherein we had filed a SAFE-T claim for, and I quote, ‘Return Order Item(s) not received’) because a customer claimed he had not received his order while it clearly shows it was delivered, where the Amazon system asks me to send them (and I kid you not):
— A photograph of the product.
— A photograph of the packaging with return slip.
— The difference between the item you sent and the return you received,
despite the fact that it is rather inconvenient to send them photographs of things we have not received, or of a ‘return slip’ since, and I am trying to be delicate here without labouring the point, WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED THEM BACK.
That, of course, is not the more ironic stuff. It is this: We use EasyShip. That means the logistics provider, which means the organisation that picks up and delivers the said item is, wait for it, Amazon itself!
Who designed this system for you, Amazon? A 16-year-old on LSD? Surely, someone with a lack of a basic grasp on reality. Or was it Joseph Heller having a bit of fun at our expense?
A rum thing technology is, I say. But that is not the real problem. It’s just the humans that are. As the venerable Douglas Adams said with astounding prescience, “People are a problem.”
