Why is it so hard to get through to a human being? (Credits: Getty Images)
In today’s MetroTalk, a reader pleas for government ministers to do something about long call waiting times, and another laments a future where artificial intelligence eventually replaces human workers.
Until then, do we have no other option but to keep waiting in on hold hell?
Meanwhile, readers discuss why it seems to be fair game to mock Christianity, the merits of burning our bad feelings away, dispel the myth about of the German way of doing things, and advocate for safety for all.
Share what you think about these topics and more in the comments.
‘Please help me get through to someone, anyone’
I am 80 years old and time is very precious to me, much too precious to spend more than an hour waiting at the end of my phone to connect with an actual voice at the Department for Work and Pensions’ Personal Independence Payment (Pip) department.
I would ask any government minister who might be reading Metro while at their desk, to ring the Pip enquiry line on 0800 121 4433 and clock how long it takes – firstly to get through the initial connection boxes and then through to a voice that hopefully is the right one for your enquiry.
If it’s not the right person for your problem, you’re back to 0800 121 4433 and another merry-go-round of the press 1,2,3, 4 buttons again.
I now say a prayer to God and all the angels and saints before I ring any government, council, hospital or any other establishment to please help me get through to someone, anyone who can see to my call and not have me wasting my precious time holding on to a useless phone. J Loftus, Manchester
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Is the AI future looking bleak?
Is AI advancement progress or the coming of an age of poverty? (Credits: Getty Images)
Businesses will no doubt rush to embrace artificial intelligence in order to cut staff and reduce wage bills.
But at what point does this become unsustainable for the country, as unemployment grows massively and tax revenues decrease dramatically?
Who will be able to afford the products created by AI if we are all on the dole? I’m not against progress but is this really progress or the coming of an age of poverty, mass protests and hopelessness for ourselves and our children? T, Glasgow
Was Rihanna’s photoshoot religious mockery or just fashion?
Pop singer Rihanna’s sexy nun photoshoot has been dragged for mocking Christianity
Rihanna is photographed on the cover of Interview magazine dressed up as a tarty nun (Metro, Wed).
People disrespect Christianity. Nobody disrespects Islam because they don’t want to end up blind in one eye like Salman Rushdie did. Stan Taylor, Sheffield
Further to your article about Japanese researchers saying that a way to cope with stress is to write the problem down on a piece of paper and throw it away (Metro, Wed).
It brought back memories of a similar method of dealing with anger we were shown by the headmaster at the boarding school I attended in Kent in the 1950s.
Every Guy Fawkes Night, we had to write down the names of anyone we’d fallen out with, or held a grudge against. The papers were collected and stuffed into the middle of the bonfire, which was then lit, symbolically burning away our resentments and ill feelings.
Have you ever tried burning or throwing away your problems and did it work? (Credits: Getty Images)
And despite some initial scepticism, I and most of my classmates were astonished to discover that it worked! Bob Readman, Sevenoaks
Ryan Cooper (MetroTalk, Wed) argues that proportional representation is a better electoral system than first past the post on the grounds that post-World War II Germany is more successful than us and has the former while we have the latter.
His comments may have applied to the last half of the 20th century but Germany’s government so far this century has not produced the goods.
Germany’s energy policy has been shredded and her fear of provoking Russia is seen in Moscow as pure weakness.
Letting in a million-plus refugees in 2015 has facilitated an unprecedented and continuing rise for the far right.
Two of Europe’s biggest criminal scandals are also German, although no executives were properly held to account from Volkswagen or Wirecard.
I am half German and always enjoy visiting a country where everyone speaks English perfectly but I do not buy into the myth of ‘why Germans do it better’. Chris Shepherd, London
Apparently it is very rare for any party to have more than 50 per cent of the vote.
Under PR, this would mean that you would have a permanent coalition government, with the minor parties holding the balance of power and calling the shots by siding with whichever party gives in to their demands. I’ll stick to our present system, thank you. Alex, Coventry
Everyone has the right to feel safe
Sam (MetroTalk, Thu) says people shouldn’t complain if they’re expected to address trans people differently, or if trans women are allowed to compete in women’s sports and that it’s ‘needless’ to have women-only bathrooms, as the justification of protecting women is ‘flimsy’.
But if women feel unsafe and have been proven justifiably to be unsafe in such spaces, then that fear is real and should not simply be dismissed because it doesn’t apply to you.
Sam then flips the argument to say that it’s actually the trans women who are in need of protection.
It shouldn’t have to be said (but clearly it does), that everyone has the right to feel safe, not just one minority.
Sam also complains that schools are ‘outing’ trans children to their parents.
Parents are responsible for their children, so how can they be if they’re not even being informed as to their child’s state of mind? Paul, London
Parents aren’t lazy, they’re just poor
On childhood obesity, I beg to differ with AH (MetroTalk, Wed) who says many parents ‘can’t be bothered’ to cook their children healthy cheap nutritious meals.
Many families just can’t afford to buy fresh fruit and veg and fresh meat.
If you’ve got a family of four or more to feed and you’re a single parent, it’s hard to make ends meet with this cost-of-living crisis/recession we’re in. EG, Sutton
Can I say a huge thank you to Fiona (MetroTalk, Wed) for the praise she gave Royal Mail. As a postie of nearly 25 years, we have had to put up with no end of criticism and bad press just lately. Not to mention those people who think Royal Mail is somehow linked to the Post Office scandal.
I have to agree that £1.35 for a first-class stamp to send a letter to the other end of the country is exceptional value and I know for sure myself and my colleagues will continue to give a first-class service to our customers. Dave, Buckinghamshire
The story of Marian Porter, the courageous farmer in Scotland who crawled 20ft into a flooded tunnel to rescue two of her lambs (Metro, Thu) was so touching!
Farmers the length and breadth of the UK deserve our thanks for their selfless duty in taking care of their animals and for feeding the nation. Scott, West London
Well done to Jamie Rock for standing up to a bullying civil enforcement collection company and their erroneous practices, trying to extract an unfair parking ticket fee of £300 (Metro, Wed).
These companies need to do their job properly. Yet how many others have been caught out with faulty systems? Lynn Preston, Lancashire
I scream about ice cream van
Accident waiting to happen? (Credits: Getty Images)
I cycle to and from work along Westminster Bridge in London, which has cycle lanes on both sides.
I’m cautious and can understand someone standing in the cycle path to take a photo with Big Ben in the background but I can’t understand why an ice-cream van is allowed to park on the southern end, which encourages people to stand in the cycle path.
Don’t wait for a child to get knocked over before action is taken. R Haynes, via email
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