My America travelog

The Vending machine magic

Automation is second nature to an American. And vending machines were (are?) the first and foremost conspicuous symbols of the creativity and inventiveness of the American. I had a first hand experience of the vending machine magic yesterday. I was so hungry and thirsty and I wanted to pick up some soda (ok cola for you :wink: ) and something to eat. I went to the basement where the machines were. The machines accept bills and coins. I insert 65 cents for a honey bun and hit its product code (it is displayed). The bun gracefully fell down into the collection pit. Magic!
Next, I moved to the next machine that vends soda. A 500 ml can costs you a buck. I slid the dollar bill and the machine yanked the bottle out, moves it along and drops it in the slot where I can pick it up. It is so easy! And I was wondering why I never bothered to buy something from the cadbury�s vending machine in a Chennai mall: I am not �used� to it. I mean I have to see, touch, and feel stuff before I buy it. Now you know why Americans are so comfortable shopping on the web and we are not.
FYI: Vending machines in USA sell soda, food, coffee, newspapers, and magazines (that�s all I have seen, maybe there�s more)

So, the next time you see a vending machine in India. Try it my friend. I am not saying they are perfect. I mean Rajaram told me he�d lost money (the Snickers choc-bar got stuck! :lol:) but hey they work most of the time and that counts. You will find a vending machine in Mumbai Airport� and they have an attendant for it too. Touche!

The Sense of humor

I was surfing through some TV channels and I stumbled on this channel called �Comedy Central�. And they have a channel for just about every category here. Well, yea, so I got hooked to this comedy central. They have a few stand-up comedy shows (for the uninitiated a stand-up comedian is one who�d talk to an audience from a stage on a topic that he/she chooses. Eddie Murphy, Tim allen and lota other stars were stand-ups). One of the shows were organized in a military base. And this guy � a stand-up � says �we invented the monster truck cos we were bored� piss us off and see what we do.� That was a message to the terrorists. The point I am driving at is, he had an auditorium full of people� people who love humor and who gave the kind of attention and respect that it deserves. I hope one day we too have our own stand-up comedians. And I hope someday we have a TV channel dedicated to comedy (instead of packaging it with cookery shows, songs shows, game shows, how to make fuel out of cow dung shows you know?). Having said that I�d also like to add that not all stand-ups have a great sense of humor. Some of them were awful.

Next week I might travel to Orlando and I think I'll go to disney land and universal studios.

Add to:del.icio.us| Digg| Reddit| StumbleUpon| Technorati