I’m a fan of most technology and the internet (having the word ‘Digital’ in your job title does tend to demand that) particularly when it saves me time, money and inconvenience. Ordering groceries online – check – saving me from an interminable route around the supermarket on a Saturday morning, sidestepping toddlers and cutting the packing-unpacking dance in half. Reserving and renewing my library books online – check – particularly as the opening hours for my library have been cut of late. But when I showed up at my doctor’s surgery the other day for an appointment, some latent Luddite tendency reared its head. For, after saying hello and telling my name to one of the three women on the front desk, I was directed to check in at the touch screen computer behind me. Huh? The time I spent scratching my head over the process on screen made me wonder how anyone at all elderly would manage it, but that’s not my real gripe. It was all a bit to reminiscent of putting my lunchtime sarnie through the self-service till. Surely a doctor’s surgery is the last place that should be depersonalized in this way?

So, while I’m aware of the strengths to online shopping and gadgetry, I would like to make a plea for the personal touch to be kept wherever possible. So, thanks to the lovely lady at Waterstone’s Chelmsford who helped me make up a three for two with The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe (very interesting) the other week. And it’s a reason why we enjoy getting calls from our customers, ordering the next, say, Susanna Kearsley or Rebecca Tope novel, as the conversations often end with a few more recommendations (both A&B and non-A&B) in the virtual basket.

Lesley-Anne Crooks, Sales & Digital Manager