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First, Tescos on Bishopsgate, then Boots in Liverpool St Station. If you’ve been to either, you’ll have noticed their self-service tills, a place where you can scan your shopping, pack them and pay without, urgh, having to speak to another human being.

Convenience has its limits. I want to talk to someone when I’m shopping – whether that be a ‘fine, thanks’ or ‘actually, yes you can…’. Every time I reluctantly find myself in the Bishopsgate branch of Tescos, I get to the split aisles between ‘self-service’ and ‘service’ and choose ‘service’.

Much as when I’m calling my internet banking, I always choose ‘speak to an operator’ over ‘use the push button service’.

Or to choose another example, why I begin every morning in my favourite coffee shop where I walk in and the barista with the angular haircut says ‘single espresso?’ before I’ve even removed an earbud.

Our experience – particularly our experience in major cities and however often we sometimes wish it wasn’t so – is all about interaction with people. It’s how citizens rub along, find common ground amidst the bustling crowds, make eye contact and remain human.

Too many of our shops are confusing ‘convenience’ (and cost cutting) with ‘service’. Shouldn’t I be taking my custom elsewhere? And would the automated till notice?

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