Beep Blippity Bleep Bleep Beep

An uncanny feeling came over me in line at the supermarket when from some invisible place in the rafters, Simon and Garfunkle began softly singing The Sound of Silence. Maybe this feeling was stirred in me because I was awash in neon light and the checkers were sadly missing. In their stead, rows of robots scanned the bar codes of hungry and vacant eyed shoppers. No one said a word. No smiles or friendly hellos. Just the hum of machines--the beeps of primitive R2 units. Unnatural light and silence at the supermarket.