A Funny Moment During the AWS Outage

The other day during the AWS outage that took down like half of the internet, I witnessed something funny, but also sad.

Online ordering was disrupted at most places. I was out running errands and asked Lindsey if she wanted something from Starbucks. Normally we just order separately since we have our orders saved. I told her to order, and I would order mine. The app was not working for me (I was unaware of the outage yet). Lindsey said her app was not working either. I said I would just go in and order.

It was crazy inside. A line of people. But, none of them knew what to do. Watching people go up and be like “my app isn’t working, what do I do?” Then the barista being like “umm, just tell me your order, there is an outage or something.” They would just show the poor guy their screen. It was even worse when a bunch of high school girls came in. They were totally lost and almost afraid of the entire process. 

Again, it was funny, but also sad. When it was my turn, the barista seemed relieved that I just knew my order and did not act like I did not know how to use words. It is sad to see so many people (young and old), who just constantly try to avoid human interaction. I get it, I love the convenience of ordering my drink and just running inside to grab it. Not dealing with people, just enjoying my coffee. BUT, we do need human interaction at times. We cannot completely lose these skills as a society. Maybe shutting down the internet for a few hours each week is a good idea.