SENIOR CITIZENS AND THE QR CODE

Age is certainly catching up for me and my friends of my generation. Technology is moving fast and I find we are no longer able to fit into the fast paced modern age. The other day Ben, my friend and I set out to Bukit Damansara to meet up with an Investment banker. Both of us are retirees. I am in the 80's while Ben is a lot younger. We have been residents of KL for a long time, used to Pusat Bandar Damansara area as we had worked in that area many years ago. We decided to take a Grab to go to Bukit Damansara. As we got into the car and buckled up with the safety belt, the driver told us to scan the QR code a small piece of plastic stuck to each side of the window. It took some effort as the sticker was slightly bigger than a postage stamp while we are used to a big placard attached to the back of the front seat. It was quite a challenge to scan it as the car was in motion through some humps and bumps. To our surprise Pusat Bandar Damansara wasn't the place we knew. Our office complex has given way to some massive development that is still on going. Needless to say we were in a new world. We congratulated ourselves for opting for Grab. The Grab driver went through a maze of narrow roads but we could not see the building where our investment banker works. We left our fate in the hands of the driver. The Grab driver was using the App "Waze" and soon we realised he was lost too when he turned into the "Shell Station" for a third time. After a few more turns Ben recognised a building that housed "Etiqa" The driver was relieved when we told him he can drop us there as we could walk to our destination. We walked into the office which did not have a frontage. Unfortunately our contact man was not in; however he had left word that he will be back in half an hour. We were wondering how to spend the next half hour as the office did not have a waiting area for guests or customers. Then we realised we had to answer the call of nature as the seniors naturally have a leaking problem that requires visits to the toilet quite frequently. I looked around and there was no male employee around whom I could ask for directions. I picked up some courage and approached a lady and whispered that I needed to use the toilet. She looked at me and cried out loudly " Toilet Ah, Here got none. You have to go "belakang" and see there got toilet or not". The entire office was looking at me and sniggering as if I was caught outraging the modesty of one of their colleagues. Then out we went in search of a toilet. We had to walk quite a distance before we saw a Parking Attendant who directed us to another building. After relieving ourselves we found a nice looking restaurant and agreed we should pass the time with a drink before we met our contact. Drinking tea at anytime of the day was a habit acquired from our civil servant days. We took out our Handphones to use the MySejatera App. Having done that we took our seats. The shop was empty perhaps because it was not coffee break yet. More probably there were no civil servants in the vicinity. We saw a young girl in the shop and beckoned her to take our orders. She did not say anything, but moved to the cashier's counter punched some numbers and gave us a small piece of paper. We asked her what that was. She said we had to scan the QR Code on that small piece of paper which will reveal the "menu." We tried it with mySejatera App and of course it did not work. We told the girl of the problem. She asked us to login to our Facebook account and to place our order. Ben told her he had no Facebook account. She looked at him in disbelief. We told her we just wanted a cup of coffee each. She looked at us pitifully and said she will ask her boss who was in the kitchen. After a while she came out and took our order. We soon had our coffee and it was paying time. We asked the same girl for the bill. She asked what wallet we are using. Ben showed her his leather bound wallet with notes sticking out and wondering why she needed to see his wallet. The girl was dumbfounded. She asked what e-wallet we are using. When told we have no e-wallet she said she has to talk to her boss. A few minutes later she came out and said it was RM7. We paid her in cash and began walking to our appointment.