The Robots of Britain
About once a fortnight, I am treated to a short space cadet show. Along will come a very particular type of British person, usually as a group rather than a couple but of any age and of both sexes, but usually female.
Their mannerisms, speech and personality seem so familiar each time they appear I have come to the conclusion Britain has been invaded by robots, or at least Gordon Brown has manufactured a Chinese shed load of them and mingled them in amongst everyone.....the reasons for this being unclear at this time. Ok...joke over...
The arrivals are always screaming, jumping and applauding at their discovery; my shop. Quickly they will disperse around the shop, with unusually sudden calm, and individually pick out items to announce to the others. The items will be shown across the shop, the price stated and a chorus of approvals received. This all sounds very normal until you witness, time and again, these peoples' faces very suddenly going blank before replacing the items. It's as though something has been switched off and as though they were only going through the motions of item:love it:show it off because of being programmed to do so and not due to genuine love of the item.
When clothing is being tried on and modeled for the group, immediately, almost before the group has seen the model, a chorus of 'Oh God it's amazing. Yep. It looks amazing on you.' will pipe. This all sounds perfectly normal too until the faces of the group very suddenly go blank as though timed out even before the model has gone back into the changing booth. They just zone out. I've also seen some pretty bad looks being applauded profusely as though what I was looking at was not what the group was looking at. Before purchase is the time to be honest: out at night is the time to lie. Are they unable to speak the truth when the truth is not perfect?
There's always a lot of finger nail picking going on and staring with glazed eyes and mouths agape. Their declarations and statements sound like canned laughter to me as they are so far removed from being 'off the cuff' it's cringe-able. These groups of people-robots invariably leave without buying anything. In fact, that is their distinguishing feature, along with the lack of a farewell....they just float out regardless.
This all sounds really nasty of me and I'd hate for my regular customers to get paranoid and think I'm talking about them. Rest assured, if you have bought something from me or chatted to me in the shop, I am not talking about you. I have almost no interaction with my robot visitors and usually not even any eye contact. I just observe as every attempt to interact makes me feel like I'm not there, in their minds. I do not feature in their programming therefore they cannot compute my interruptions or contributions, although they do cause hiccups; I usually generate momentary malfunctioning stances, and then back to Look Number 24. Often comments or questions from me go ignored or the recipients look up for a second as though asking themselves, 'Did I hear something then?' before getting back to the business of make believe.
Why is this of significance? I have noticed that I am becoming less 'space cadet' the longer I live here. It's as though many fingers have been snapped, each snap having brought me closer to reality. I notice this surreal mentality frequently, not just in strangers floating around the shop, but in people I know...but only in British people. Of course, people of other nationalities can be out of touch with reality but I've only noticed it in this particular way in British people. No offense intended!
Why are some British people robotic, on another planet and out of touch with reality? My belief is they have become programmed by magazines, billboards, chat shows, office etiquette and a whole host of other brainwashing bollocks. The result? People live the way they think they are supposed to live, with constant checking going on due to the fear of making a social faux pa, rather than living instinctively in reality. The teachings of the brainwashing bollocks are so ingrained the functionality of these people-robots is purely mechanical, all decisions having been made already. There is no life in their faces as no mental processing is going on.
I only noticed this after living here for three or four years, probably at the point when I had surfaced enough from a surreal existence to be able to see things for what they were. I am now an outsider looking in.
The answer? There is an answer and that is to regress back to a bygone age when people didn't build a life based on what was thrust into their faces at every step in life. Unfortunately, I think things will only ever get worse and people will become more robotic, more obedient, more easily molded, more easily organised, more easily duped by authority, and less able or willing to deviate from the norm......maybe fiercely and frighteningly commited to conformity.
Is this social engineering? Is it intentional? Dare I step out of line and say 'yes'?
posted by Hannah @ 5:49 PM
6 Comments:
Yes, yes, yes, Hannah. I have seen it too. Now imagine trying to live in this brainwashed bollocks country - after 16 years rediscovering reality - and you get half a measure of how much of a square peg I am! :)
The blank face when stuff does not compute, I have seen many times. My mother does it to a T. She has also told me that one just doesn't express opinions here any more and she was dead serious that it isn't safe to do so. As well as buying the whole pointless celebrity lifestyle marketing thing, the robots appear scared to behave outside of certain approved reactions.
Having escaped the shackles of society in Britain, the last thing I would willingly do is go back. Mind you, should I go back I would like to think I would not revert to being the old Hannah and benefit from my wisdom, maybe even finding humour in it.
Those looks of sheer terror when you say 'the wrong thing' can be quite amusing.
Best just to laugh and point ;)
Hi Hannah, I have another view on this:
Surely this is all about politeness and making the person/shopowner feel as though you are appreciating what they have got, even though there may be no real intention ultimately to make a purchase. Is it better to be like this that for someone to skulk into the shop, not say anything, look miserable and uninterested and leave.
The problem with us here in britain is that we were predominantly brought up to be polite, not be rude and not be able to say no. As a result we are a salesman's dream, I here countless stories of people being sold things unwillingly simply because the person cannot say no as they think its rude. Brits are often an easy target for timeshare touts, double glazed salesmen etc etc.
I have done somthing similar to what you are describing but in a different situation. When i was buying a house, every house i went into i always made noises of interest just to make the seller think you are a serious buyer as there would be no way i could tell the seller to their face that there house was a dump, especially if i had made the time to go and visit it.
Likewise if I go into a shop and quickly realise that it isnt for me. I wouldnt be so rude just to immmediately turn around and walk out the door, I would browse the shop first, probably engage with the shop keeper then leave.
....perhaps im a robot too then?? lol
Hi Luke,
I've got a feeling only expats will know what I'm talking about. I think you have to be out of it to be able to see it.
What you described...walking into a shop you are not interested in and waiting an extra few seconds before leaving just to protect the feelings of the shop owner....is exactly what I do. Maybe not as much as when I was in Britain but I certainly don't disregard the owners feelings.
No...these people are different. I don't come into it. They are in a bubble, bouncing around hardly noticing what's going on outside of it. They are not remotely concerned with my feelings. I might as well not be there. They are living out a fantasy as though it was pre-programmed into them.
I once tried using my remote control on a group and they did actually stop moving when I pressed STOP and started running around like ants when I pressed FAST FORWARD. I got rid of them by pressing EJECT.
Ah!!! Maybe they're just nutters!
;)
LOL! Who knows who the nutters are any more? It could be me, but I happen to think it's everyone else who is out of step (she says, only half jesting.)
Yeah, I do mostly laugh at the antics. You are right, there's no way that one is going to revert - actually, I didn't fit in before - there are things that one can only see from outside and you can't "unlearn" wisdom.
There is a worrying side to this social engineering too though.
I was also a square peg in a round hole most of the time in the UK, or certainly in work situations.
The things which worry me about all this mental conditioning and social engineering are that people will no longer FEEL anything or DO anything in defiance, retaliation or rejection of creeping changes and infringements to civil liberty. They'll just let it all happen without a care in the world and maybe even welcome it thanks to believing all the bollocks which will be fed them.
Also, they will and already do round on misfits...people who say what they do not want to hear despite it being true. This is mental conditioning at its most powerful.....brainwash other people to do the dirty work for you.
Your mother telling you you are not allowed to show your feelings anymore is a very mild form of this. Beating the hell out of people for their political beliefs, just because they are outside of the norm, is the extreme.
In the end, people will become fanatical extremists of a conformist kind. Think robotic lemmings who drag people off the cliff with them whether they like it or not.
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