I was at the airport the other day, you know, being the jet-setting international man of mystery that I am, and I found my self on a travelator.
You know, one of those horizontal escalators.
I didn’t mean to do it. I’d been sleeping on the plane, and was still in a bit of a daze. I had my mind on other things, and just followed the general flow of people off the plane, through the gate and towards that baggage claim…
And on to a travelator.
And there I found myself stuck in a queue about 6 deep, with a few couples and a bit of baggage. Once they hit the travelator, they all just stopped. There’s was no getting past.
I just had to wait to get to the end of the line.
As I stood there, getting slowly shunted along like a fleshy package on a conveyor belt, two young men on the outside walked past me. They were footy players and had a spring in their step, and they were laughing and carrying on as they strode past me in my assembly line of pudge and pastry.
It was a shock. What the hell am I doing?!?
What am I, 90? Why am I allowing this stupid machine to treat me like an invalid?
I hate travelators. Sure, maybe if I was lugging a Santa’s sack of luggage. But all I had was my carry-on, with a sturdy set of wheels.
Walking with it hardly takes effort.
And that’s what I hate about them. They’re a machine designed to save people the effort of walking.
The “effort of walking”?? Do we really live in age where ‘walking’ is a burden? Really? Is that where we’re setting the bar now?
Hot stock tip: Take on an exposure to the intravenous drip industry. Once people realise there’s a device that can save them from the ‘effort of chewing’, drips will sell like hot cakes.
Pre-digested hot cakes.
Same story with escalators. I went to one of those big shopping boxes the other day, and you couldn’t actually avoid them. If you wanted to move between levels, it seemed your only option was to use an escalator.
(Though there’s also an evil intent here too. They set out to herd you past as many other shops as possible on your way to and from your destination.)
But the irony is striking. At a time where obesity is becoming one of the biggest health challenges we face, technology is taking away the few opportunities for physical exertion we have.
Imagine you work in an office. You get up, have breakfast, drive to work. Catch the elevator to your floor. Get back in your car at the end of the day. Stop by the shopping box. Catch escalators to the shops you want. Get drive through on the way home. Park yourself in front of the tv til you fall asleep…
How many miles have you actually covered today? Not even one. You’ve probably walked, what, maybe 300m – for the entire day!
Your cave-man ancestors would have done that just to find a nice place to take a poop.
And if we know one thing about the human organism, it’s a ‘use it or lose it’ type thing. If you don’t work your muscles they get soft and spudgy. And this includes vital muscles like your heart and lungs.
So what do we do about it?
Well I think we need to push back against a technology that’s making everything easy for us. And that means going out of our way to make our day difficult.
It means always looking for the harder option. Ignoring the escalator and taking the stairs. Ditching the trolley and carrying your shopping. Walk more and car less.
Make the harder option a rule.
The modern world is out to get you. It wants to make you fat and useless. You need to step up to the fight. And see the whole world and the whole day as your personal training gym.
(I know it’s kind of ridiculous that it’s come to making everything as hard as possible, but hey, I didn’t invent travelators.)
But this isn’t just about physical exertion.
It’s also about our minds. We’ve outsourced our memories and much of our processing to computers and phones, and it’s making us dull.
When I was a kid I knew every one of my friend’s phone numbers by heart. Now I sometimes get hazy about my own phone number.
And we don’t try and figure stuff out any more either. Can’t fix something around the house? Just google it. Don’t know what the word ‘atavistic’ means? Just go to dictionary.com.
We don’t spend as much time guessing and rolling things around in our mind as we used to. But guessing is a creative act. It’s about taking different shapes in our mind and seeing how they fit together.
This is the foundation of abstract thought, but the limb’s in danger of falling off.
And I worry about imagination as well. We used to listen to stories and read books.
We had to work for it a little. We had to imagine what each character looked and sounded like. Imagine what their house and garden were like.
Now TV and movies do all the work for us. We know how things look and how they sound because we’re told. And we’ve lost patience with anything that doesn’t keep us constantly juiced on novelty.
Like we’re afraid of any time at all in our own heads. But our heads are the seat of imagination, so is imagination at risk too?
Now I can kind of deal with a future where fat humans are wheeled about in robotic carts. But without intellect, creativity, curiosity and imagination, we’re stripped of the most beautiful aspects of humanity, and the vision is horrifying.
Technology is trying to destroy the human species. And it’s not some gun-toting terminator machine. It’s heated toilet-seats, predictive text and automated reverse parking.
Time to take up the fight.
If take you every convenience the world has to offer you, you’ll end up fat, dull and stupid.
Agree?
Disagree?
…are you a travelator type of person or prefer the other experience?
Hozykozi says
I like it on the travelator as long as I can keep walking. It should mean I get where I want to go faster! If you want to stand there being a human package, MOVE TO THE LEFT (or right depending which country you are in).
Stuart says
Absolutely but I’d go one step further – the travelator is NOT a ride, the idea is to keep walking so you can get to a boarding gate or exit quicker, not have a rest getting there (even if you do move to the left/right).
modern man says
ever been to Florida where many, many non-aged people ride around in motorised scooters as they are too unhealthy to walk?
Wilko72 says
Nice work!
Another modern day anomaly that amuses me is the bloke who pays the lawn mower man to look after his yard, is the same bloke who pays to go to the gym…. time to get off the treadmill and start pushing your lawnmower mate, save the money twice!!
sthilzy says
It’s happening where fiction becomes reality….
http://i.imgur.com/emfjE.jpg
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/64283/file-2238801702-jpg/images/Wall-E-2-fat-humans.jpg?t=1424963095481
ron goddard says
jon i agree with everything you say…except travelators..i ride them if i get free passage and move very fast along..i feel good about it..because even though they are level etc. it is still a little exhilerating to move along at 12 or so kms p/h….and i have ridden many of them..in changi, bkk, and hk, as far as exercise goes….well i do walk about 10 kms a day and exercis my brain somewhat 🙂 imagine trying to change the world…hmm nice thought cheers, ron
propchic says
Hope my last rant hasn’t disappeared but fear it has….love technology…when it works. one advantage of this technological age where most young people have no imagination, cannot produce anything creative without software, (and how creative is that) cannot problem solve without going to Google…is that all the oldies who learnt these skills and have continued to use them, (old school) can create whatever type of career, lifestyle etc, ‘cos they know how to think, problem solve and communicate. You know, reading, writing and talking…LOL.
Windyz says
Technology is not a downgrade to life! You choose how your life goes, your the one responsible for your balance of diet and exercise, your in charge of how you think and feel about the world. You have the choice to loose your life to poor diet and no excersise if you want to, you can get away with the couch potato routine if thats your choice, for a while at least. Its free will, to die sooner or live well for longer. Your can use it or loose it your choice.
The travelator is not trying to kill you, its not the gun that kills people its the one firing it. Travelators bring more independence to those that need assistance. Would it shock you to know, 1 in 5 people struggle with some form of chronic pain or disease that greatly impacts everyday life. I’m a 1 in 5, Its fantastic the improvements technology brings to my life, because for me I get tired after I’ve walked from the car park to the supermarket, I have no feeling in my arms or legs by the time I’m at the airport gate, let alone pick up my bag and put it in the overhead. I can’t turn on a regular tap when I wake up in the morning, and if only I had some kind of auto reverse park, I wouldn’t have to drive around forever finding an easier spot.
I look like a regular person, nobody would ever know to look at me, I don’t limp or walk with a cane, I mostly don’t have the shakes, and I’m your average good looking, 40 yr old mum with three kids, I’ve always been healthy, exercised and eaten well, its only after loosing the gene pool lottery and being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and Ankylosing spondylitis, that I learned to see things differently, I now realise there are so many people struggling with poor mobility. Huge numbers of people silently slipped past me in days gone by, me without a clue on what it cost them to make it out that day.
I see them now, I see that lady or man moving a little slower than the crowd. I’ve become one who measures out each day, I still live a big life, wherever I can, I never measured out energy before and know most people don’t, judging by your article your a healthy dude with energy to burn, let me encourage you to burn it well!
I say Bring on the travelators, increase education on food health and the value of good lifestyle choices, yes indeed use it or loose it. While you CAN walk beside the travelator, hell when not run? “Carpe diem baby” rejoice your the lucky one. There is no conspiracy here, just clever people inventing awesome tech to help out people who need it, making the world more accessible, I hope my comment brings a wider view to your horizon. Maybe you can learn to see people who could really use a hand here and there, without having to have a lesson of my magnitude. Your life is can also be improved by slowing down and really looking sometimes, and yes by speeding up walking more, eating well and being grateful you can. Choose the harder road, It’s your choice.
Windyz says
BTW to give my comment weight, I’m not overweight I swim every second day to stay mobile and I eat well. I still look awesome, I just a feel the opposite. Mobility issues don’t determine weight its more about what you eat needs to be balanced for how much you burn. Simply put move less = eat less or become fat and have even more trouble, its still your choice.
victorshengli says
The worse thing is that the only stairs are often the fire escapes with doors alarmed in case someone opens one.
luke says
Easy to harp on specific details of the article, but in essence people allow themselves to be lazy (physically, mentally, etc) … its about the THEME. There is going to be generalisation is a short article, I would imagine individual circumstances would be explored in a book (rather than a blog). Great post John!!
DC says
Sounds to me like your just having a general rant about how bad the world is. “Back in the good old days”! People are fat and lazy because they are fat and lazy. The world has never been more exciting and challenging, changing constantly. Its not the world thats the problem, just some of the people in it. If you want to walk everywhere, do it. I love the Travelator but I love exercising as well.
Jac says
Agree Jon. Its all scary but true. We try to take the stairs whenever possible and we are often the only ones. Ever watched the Wall-E animated movie? It shows humans of the future all extremely fat and lazy.
KatM says
My youngest daughter has a habit of running on escalators that move in the opposite direction to our movements. She usually beats me when I walk briskly down the escalator while she runs down as her stairs are moving up. Of course I always warn her that other people might be approaching the escalator because then she’d have to politely turn around and follow me.
Watch out for the occasional hungry escalator that can injure your toes! Nearly 8 years ago we had the misfortune of the eldest child having the Croc footwear chewed up by an escalator at the London Tube.
I agree that a Travelator is meant to speed up your pace as you walk/run on it to reach your destination in less time.
Lazy arses choose to rest their feet while busy ants scurry with their luggage.
Steven Hambly says
I agree, and I find it sad that all young people have their heads plugged into gadgets all day long.
Libby B says
Hi Jon,
I love reading your work and agree with what you are saying in this piece – but don’t take it out on travelators. I have a friend with a physical disability and have often travelled with her. Travelators are fantastic for getting around an airport (often massive places) if you have a challenge to your mobility. While the world is (very slowly) getting more accessible, it’s still a place that’s pretty hard to get around if you are not “normally” physically able.
Robert says
The problem is that Australians aren’t told to stand on the left of escalators and travellators. Travelators when walked on make it possible to travel faster. When stood on they slow you down.
annon ymous says
The point of this article is not to be missed. If anyone wants to debate this, be a politician or go somewhere else to have your rant. Present day conveniences takes us down a path like a fat animal to the slaughter house…. to die. Put it another way, an easy way out in “I want it and I want it now” quiet tantrum. In reality, it is either move it or die like a fat pudgy animal, nothing in between. Take your pick.
Kathy says
I’m a bit late to this party, most comments came yesterday, but for what it’s worth, try to do the 10,000 step challenge every day (a fitbit, clone fitbit or phone app can help with this), and make a point of trying to commit people’s phone numbers to memory. Do one a week starting with family and then friends.
J88 says
Good choice of word to look up, suits nicely with your point.
Example of sentence with the word Atavistic as given by dictionary.com:
“It’s atavistic to cling to outmoded methods, but only when the new is actually improved.”
Remember that the new one has to improve the old one, not make you fatter, lazier and more slave-like..