An elderly couple unable to use the kiosk for ordering faced cold treatment from a restaurant telling them to "watch others order," and their menu cancellation request was also refused... "It hurts to see seniors treated as a nuisance in society"
A restaurant that refused to take orders directly from an elderly couple struggling with kiosk (unmanned ordering machine) use and even declined to cancel a mistakenly placed order has sparked outrage among netizens.
A kiosk experience zone installed by a local government for senior citizens. Not related to the article content.
On the 31st of last month, a post titled "Do we really have to force kiosks on the elderly too?" was uploaded to an online community. The author, Mr. A, shared that his parents-in-law recently had an unpleasant experience at a well-known local Kalguksu (hand-cut noodle soup) restaurant. The restaurant used to take orders directly but switched to kiosks one day.
Mr. A’s parents-in-law, unfamiliar with using the kiosk, called a staff member over and asked, "We don’t know how to use the kiosk; could you please take our order?" The staff member replied, "There are too many people, so please order through the kiosk. If you watch, you’ll figure it out," and then walked away.
Seeing the elderly couple struggling in front of the kiosk, a customer at a nearby table came over to help. They noticed that the couple had accidentally ordered a large seafood stew (Haemuljjim Daeja). Since the order had just been placed and the nearby table’s food hadn’t arrived yet, the helpful customer asked the staff to cancel the order.
However, the staff said, "Please read the notice that says ‘Orders once placed cannot be canceled, so please order carefully.’" The customer pleaded again, "The food probably hasn’t even started cooking yet; could you please cancel it?" but was told, "No, no one has ever been allowed to cancel before." In the end, Mr. A’s parents-in-law, sensing the situation might escalate, just ate the large seafood stew and left.
Mr. A expressed his frustration, saying, "We have grown up learning new things all our lives, so we quickly adapt to new things. But is it natural to expect the elderly to do the same?" He added, "The cooking hadn’t even started yet; why can’t they just change the order? The world is so harsh that it makes the elderly feel like a nuisance to society, and it’s so upsetting it brings tears to my eyes."
Netizens who read the story responded with anger, saying things like, "If they used to take orders directly until recently, they should have helped a bit," "Even young people sometimes struggle; imagine how hard it must be for the elderly," "What kind of attitude is it to refuse cancellation when cooking hasn’t even started?" "How did our country come to this?" "Try getting old yourself; it’s hard to keep up with the times," and "Thinking about my own parents going through this really makes me furious."
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