Today, I Ordered Lunch from a Guy in Pakistan

“Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”

— Robert Oppenheimer (quoting from the Hindu sacred text the ‘Bhagavad-Gita’)

Today, I ordered my lunch from a guy in Karachi, Pakistan. At the counter of Crazy Pita in Downtown Summerlin, a young man 8,212 miles away dutifully took my order and accepted payment. He even allowed me to make a few substitutions.

I was overwhelmed by the experience. This was the first time I’d seen this in any restaurant. I ordered everything from a live person on a video screen. The man even had a sense of humor, or at least pretended to laugh at my joke.

This shouldn’t be surprising, but still — it was. We’ve already seen blackjack dealers in casinos on video screens. We scan our own groceries at the store. We’re accustomed to dealing with customer service hubs on the other side of the world with people whose names we probably can’t pronounce. Nonetheless, the notion of ordering real food from a real person connected through the internet via what amounted to a Zoom call line and then coming away with a positive impression was something that I did not expect.

Of course, this is the future and the future is now. It’s inevitable that we’ll see more video tellers linked to other parts of the world. Rising labor costs were certain to accelerate service jobs shifting to other countries, where employees aren’t paid as highly, which is a mixed bag of tricks or treats for any American who values the future of workers and the survival of the middle class. Presumably, my customer service rep in Karachi makes around half what a live-American worker would earn in the same occupation–if that.

This was my view of the counter (see photo above). I even asked the man if I could take his picture, and he agreed.

Eighty years ago, when the late physicist Robert Oppenheimer saw what was coming following the first nuclear test, he infamously quoted from the Bhagavad-Gita, warning us about becoming the vestiges of our own demise. I’m still pondering what all this means, and where we’re headed, and wonder if it’s a better place. I’m not sure. I don’t know.

But I will say this. Crazy Pita has certainly lived up to its name.