Uni High Gargoyle Staff Blog

Automatic things were created to make our lives easier. They were invented to keep us from exerting extra energy and to save precious seconds in the daily lives of modern people. However, some automatic facilities are even more troublesome than their traditional counterparts.

Take automatic sink faucets for example. Half the time they don’t even work properly. In the bathrooms at Grainger Engineering Library, I would often end up standing in front of a sink — waving at a motion detector — trying to get water to come out. It would be a lot easier if I could just turn a knob to wash my hands rather than waste time trying to get a sensor to detect my presence.

On the other hand, sometimes when I’m standing by a sink looking into the mirror, water would come pouring out from a faucet. It’s a waste of water, not to mention a bit creepy.

The same goes for automatic toilets. Good-quality ones usually work nicely, but the bad-quality ones often don’t flush when you want them to. That’s definitely not good, especially from a sanitary perspective.

Why do we even need automatic toilets? It’s really not that hard to flush a toilet. And then there are some automatic toilets that flush randomly even though it’s not being used. What a waste of resources.

Finally, there are automatic doors. Every time I walk by Follett’s Bookstore on Green Street, the automatic doors slide open. It’s actually quite annoying. Yet every once in a while when I try to enter a store, the sliding doors just won’t open. I’d have to walk around the front door a few times before it detects my presence.

Maybe automatic things and I just don’t get along. But I’m thinking that it’s more because they tend to malfunction. Yes, I admit, they can come in handy sometimes. For example, if you’re carrying heavy boxes, an automatic door would save a lot of trouble. However, many automatic things, such as automatic toilets, are quite useless.

— Elaine Gu