Wednesday, March 26, 2008

26 March 2008

Information Superhighway Roadkill.

One of our staffers assists a middle-aged man in filing out an online
job application.

This poor fellow had never used a pc before (never needed to). The
keyboard was unfamiliar to him, the mouse a huge challenge, and he
never did get the concept behind a drop-down menu. Don and his
coworker basically held his hand and walked him through dozens of
screens of questions, checkboxes, and assorted microscopic type.

In the end, he spent a tortured hour and a half filling out two job
applications. He lost his job, and needs another - and if you want to
apply at McDonalds, you've got to do it online.

I understand McDonalds' position. They get millions of applicants,
they want to weed out those who don't have the skills to read and fill
out an online application. And they aren't in the business of teaching
folks basic computer skills.

But where can this man turn? Except for the public library and a few
equally poorly-funded government agencies, there's no one to help
people like our friend.

This morning it was slow, and two of us could spend the time helping
him. But what happens when we're busy? Or when 2 or 3 such patrons
need help simultaneously?

There aren't east answers. But we've got to come up with something
better....

1 comment:

Betts4 said...

Just insane. And very sad. I watched a woman that had to be in her late 60's sit at the screen at Walmart trying to use the computer to fill out the application. No paper apps anymore more.