Romney and the Touchscreen

Yesterday, the news reported that Mitt Romney was fascinated by ordering food using a touchscreen system at a gas station convenience store.  Perhaps he may not have known about touchscreen computers, but it is difficult to believe that he had no prior experience with touchscreen phones. Yet, if we are to believe the report, that was his first experience using a touchscreen to order self-service food. Granted, there might be many reasons for Romney’s lack of experience with the touchscreen ordering systems many gas stations use.

I’d like to think he was opposed to machines replacing human workers, and so he refused to use them in the past. However, that was not the case. Romney raved about the quick and easy process. He said you just touch a few buttons and then pay the cashier. Really? How hard is it to give your sandwich order to an employee?  Perhaps Romney doesn’t like talking to waitresses or counter staff.  If so, the episode highlighted a much more serious personality problem.

However, I will stop speculating about why Romney was touchscreen illiterate and why he preferred interacting with a computer to a person.  The entire news story reminded me of a previous president, George W. Bush, who was amazed at that ability to scan barcodes in a grocery store. That would be the same former president whose horrid economic policies led us into this mess.

Mitt Romney is another extremely wealthy person who has limited experience with everyday life.  He does not have to worry about making his lunch before he goes to work. In the case of the reported gas station meal, a chauffer  drove him there in a limousine. In fact, the chauffer drove to a different station than originally scheduled because Romney’s security had determined there was a protest at the planned location.  I would have liked to have seen Romney talk to the protestors to discover their concerns.  Instead, Romney avoided them. He entered a gas station convenience store surrounded by security and ordered his own sandwich. I am not impressed.

Perhaps we need a Republican candidate who understands today’s problems. It would be nice to have one who realizes why a typical person picks up a meal from a gas station.  The country would be served better by a candidate who understood that many people pick up lunch as they fuel their vehicles because their lives leave them little time to relax during meals. Can Republican candidate Romney understand that kind of life?   I don’t think so.