Well put.

"I gave you a fact"

says the monkey — Banno

, not noticing how the "fact" is the result of his own attitudes and presumptions.

Yes i think that's right. Discrimination is not the same thing as being mean or even prejudiced. It's about unnecessarily disadvantaging someone, and you can do that while trying to be nice to them. And you can also include someone while not being very nice to them. — bert1

Thank you. I did not realize this until technology started marginalizing seniors and other technologically disadvantaged people. Somewhere in this thread, someone said we are not disabled if we do comfort barriers like stairs when we are confined to a wheelchair. The electronic kiosks we must go through to see a doctor or get on the train are unnecessary barriers for many people.

It is not just the technology but the inhumanness of this technology. That screams we are no longer in the caring society we once had. I knew we were in trouble when the receptionist could not answer questions because of the hierarchy of authority we have created since 1958. There was a time when the receptionist knew everything and could help us get past any problems we had. In some ways, she knew more about what was happening than the boss. Then this wonderful system was intentionally destroyed, and today the person who answers the phone is unlikely to be very helpful because the job has been intentionally restricted and departmentalized.

Bottom line is it is not just the technology that is a barrier. It is an impersonal hierarchy of authority that has invaded and taken our homeland from us. Things could not be worse if we had been invaded by aliens from outer space. Our society is not people working together as once did, and our homeland is foreign to us. We are pushed out by this invader and this hurts.

Yes i think that's right. Discrimination is not the same thing as being mean or even prejudiced. It's about unnecessarily disadvantaging someone, and you can do that while trying to be nice to them. And you can also include someone while not being very nice to them. — bert1

Thank you sooo much. I don't know if any nation has a vocabulary that is better for explaining our experiences. For us, with English, it is often very difficult to convey our experience, including the feeling that goes with it. Everyone at the library is being nice, and they do not understand how an old lady may feel when she is told to use a kiosk instead of having the human experience of being helped that we once had. They are nice people in a dying, impersonal, demanding reality. What it feels like to be a citizen today is not what it used to feel like.

Before AI began taking over, it was how we organized ourselves that was changing. Everything is run by "policy" and that is very dehumanizing compared to the human experience we once had. Now it is policy and technology, and the lockout is much worse.

Under what circumstances might someone need support? — bert1

Whenever someone has control of a resource that others need, there can be a need for support. When I am asked "how do I direct your call", I snap back "How should I know? I don't know how you are organized. " I try to use a nice tone of voice even though I am mad as hell about the world putting policy above my humanness. In my mind, the person who answers the phone should ask, "How can I help you?" and then s/he figures out who I need to speak with.

The circumstance is being human. And I think if we were having the human experience, there would be less killing by people who feel locked out and desperate.