It's not all about Technology
Back in the day when a single bus ride was 5p and a packet of polo mints was 4½p; grown men wore platform shoes and flared trousers with big square pockets on the side, elasticated waistbands and massive belt buckles. Remember wing collar shirts and horse-and-carriage tank tops? Back in the day when I was just starting out, we carried loose change in our pockets for parking meters and public phone boxes. That's where you went if you were away from home and needed to make a phone call and if you didn't have the 2p coin, you'd dial the operator, ask to make a reverse charge call and hope your dad, your boss or whoever, would accept it.
Back in the day when a four bedroom house cost £7,500, we lived on a council estate and had loads of friends. We went to school on our own and in the summer holidays went out to play in the fields from dawn til dusk, only coming in for lunch, tea, or a quick snack. We didn't have to check the time on our digital watches - when it got dark it was time to go home. Life was simple - thinking only about the next day down at the rec - that's recreational ground for those of you that don't quite remember. But you'll never forget "Mister Softie" or "Toni Bell", I'll have a Screwball please and a Happy Face for later, before it melts.
Now, you're probably wondering where I'm going with all this 'back in the day' stuff - a little trip down memory lane. Well, we had to be creative - make our own entertainment - didn't we? We didn't have the "X Box" or "Wii", "PSP" or "DS"; we played >real games, socialised and entertained one another. We had football pitches and athletics tracks, playgrounds and youth clubs and every Friday night there was a disco too. I remember having my first slow dance but I didn't know where to put my hands so I put them back in my pockets - as you do - and just went with the flow. Do you remember where you were the first time you saw Michael Jackson's Thriller? Did you have a mobile phone? I don't think so! But did that stop you? Not really, no.
Case in point; I know it sounds like a joke, and in a way it is a joke. There's an Englishman, an Irish guy, a Scot, a Welshman, an Aussie, a Kiwi, a guy called John and a few more people skulking about. Why? Here we all are, away overseas at a business conference, and all the mobiles have gone dead. In a room full of movers and shakers trying to keep their businesses on-track in the coffee break, there's nothing. Rien, nada, zip, zero. None but the occasional 'chosen one' can get a signal on their top-of-the-range mobiles. With 10 minutes to go before the next session, the atmosphere, to put it mildly, is one of barely contained panic.
It's like Armageddon in here. The world has stopped turning. There's no text, no voicemail, no email, not even the talking clock. A room full of control freaks going 'cold turkey' and they aren't going down without a fight. The slightest flicker of a ring tone going off means the risk of being kidnapped and 'relieved' of your precious device. Professional courtesy is giving way to frustration, even desperation. Signals flicker - there are moments when you can see one bar, maybe two, but never more - and it fades to nothing before you can scroll your phone list and make your most desperately urgent call. And if you manage to get a call out, suddenly you have a roomful of 'friends' clamouring for a fix from your phone.
You see what that trip down memory lane was about now? This is what it's come to. We're all dependant on modern technology - to keep us in touch, to keep things moving. The world we live in is a faster and smaller place than it was, and it's still shrinking. We go on line, 3-clicks to buy. We've paid for it, we want it, and we don't care how it gets here, just get it here, now! No more "up to 28 days for delivery" these days. Just imagine, waiting 28 days!
But modern technology doesn't solve everything.
Keep that thought in mind for when you find yourself in a situation where somebody has made their problem your problem and you, up against it and digging a deeper hole, are looking for help. Technology is all very well, but sometimes you need a real person - somebody in-the-know to keep things in motion. When that happens, turn to the experts, the market leaders in customs clearance solutions, by calling +44 (0) 208 231 0900 or emailing info@customsclearanceuk.com (if you have a signal!) and let us pick up the problem and turn it into a solution. It's why we're here.
12th June 2008
