Sometimes when I wake up after a late night or simply find no breakfast foods in the fridge (happens to young single men a lot), I stop by McDonalds for a quick bite - I'm somewhat impartial to Egg McMuffins. And almost every time I'm there the exchange with the cashier goes something like this:
- I would like Meal Number 10 with coffee substituted for orange juice.
- Would you like milk & sugar in your coffee?
I pronounce the words SUBSTITUTED and ORANGE JUICE very clearly; the staff at this particular downtown Miami location seems to have no issues with unerstanding English. Yet offering milk & sugar is so engrained in these people's minds, they can't stop doing it despite hearing my request.
I'm uncomfortable with the though of living in a society full of robots. And I'm really scared that one day when I tell a very special someone about my feelings, their response will be
'Would you like milk & sugar in your coffee?'
