A couple are walking through a shopping mall when an electronic sign catches their attention.
“Your people never wait their turn” it says in bold letters (see above). Three overacting people are eating party pies with tomato sauce.
“Never wait their turn? Are the pies so good, or the people so rude?” he wonders.
Then as the couple watch, the next screen appears.
“Your people quote the lines before they happen” is the new message. Still eating party pies with sauce, but not looking quite so eager, for some reason.
He says: “Notice how the message isn’t how good the pies are, but how “your people” are somehow different, smarter, living life to the full.”
“Those party pies really pack a punch!” she replies with a laugh.
The watching couple look at each other, then back at the screen.
A new screen advertises a new car. A dozen worshiping people hold up phones to photograph this car – or is it a golden calf?
She says: “Does it make it a great car if people take a photo on their phones!?”
The couple look at each other again.
“Ten thousand years of civilisation leads to this?” he says.
“We’re doomed!” she says.
And they continue their shopping.
This post is based on a true story by a couple I know well. The photos are from a mall in Sydney, Australia.
