Dystopian supermarkets… where did all the humans go?

Letters Fri, 23 January 2026 at 11:30 am UTC·5 min read Over a decade ago I had repeat tussles with tellers at a TSB bank as they pestered me to do online banking. My question then was, why are you working so hard to ‘un-employ’ yourselves? I no longer have that argument, as all the branches of TSB accessible to me closed, and I had to move bank.Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The last time I spoke to a TSB clerk it was to commiserate. She wasn’t being moved to a different branch when that one closed, as there were none. Like all her colleagues, she was being made redundant. One of the clearest examples of this passive acceptance of third rate service and dehumanisation is the sly...