Future Shock
Good afternoon, everyone.
Went to one of those new "partially-automated" McDonald's over the weekend. You walk in and it feels like you're inside a giant microwave or something. The interior is bare. No employees were visible. There were booths, tables, and bench seats with tables, but little else aside from the big screens you tap your order in on. There weren't napkins, straws, or condiments. It was so spartan in there, I was surprised to find toilet paper in the bathroom.
Soon after ordering, an employee materializes from the innards of the small building and brings you your food. But if you wanted, say, more ketchup, a napkin, or a straw, you had to lean over a counter and yell back into the kitchen to get someone's attention and have them hand you a wad of napkins or a handful of ketchup.
Every customer in the joint seemed confused, moving from screen to peering around the shelving that marked the entrance to the kitchen. To be fair, a couple only spoke very broken English which probably exacerbated the confusion even more, but even people like myself were mystified by the whole experience.
Was this supposed to be a cool experience? Was I supposed to enjoy not seeing people prepare my food or take my order? Am I supposed to prefer this? After some thinkng, I decided that this whole setup wasn't about me, the customer, at all.
Instead, it was purely and outwardly about decreasing the amount of friction between me and my wallet. No humans to get in the way of the sale—just a giant computer screen where I tap in my order, barely minding the price, drawn in the by all too familiar experience of tapping my phone screen and receiving dopamine in return.
On the way out, a man looked at us as he struggled to get a line cook's attention as he asked for some napkins. "I'm not ready for the future," he sheepishly admitted. But I don't think he's alone. I don't think anyone is ready for that future. It's one of those things that will get imposed on you, begrudgingly, as you long for a time when some McDonald's locations hung chandeliers in the dining room.
Onward, Davis.
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
💸 Protesting Property Taxes Americans for Prosperity Tennessee, GOP Nashville, and the Nashville Tea Party have launched a grassroots campaign against “any proposed property tax hike in Metro Nashville/Davidson County.” During Friday’s media roundtable, Mayor O’Connell all but confirmed that Metro plans to raise property taxes this year: “we do expect that there will be a total increase in revenue.” The groups are coordinating a rally at the Nashville Public Library during Mayor O’Connell’s State of Metro address on Thursday.
“Once again, we’re reminding city leaders that Nashville families simply can’t bear the burden of another tax increase,” said Pamela Furr, AFP Middle TN Grassroots Director. “Whether it’s sales or property taxes, the message is the same—people are being priced out of their own city. We’re becoming the city of broken dreams simply because dreamers can no longer afford to live here.”
🗺️ D-16 Zoning Battle: Round Deux Councilmember Ginny Welsch failed to gain support for her District 16 upzoning proposals from the Metro Planning Commission, but her legislation could fare differently when brought before the council next week. Though the Commission’s rejection of her Urban Design Overlay and plans to convert residential areas to medium and high-density zoning may have tasted like victory among those in opposition, the process is far from over.
“It's critically important to understand that a recommendation of approval or disapproval from the Planning Commission is just that: A recommendation,” said Councilmember Courtney Johnston regarding Metro’s process. “All a disapproval does is raise the vote threshold required to pass the measure from 21 yes votes to 27 yes votes to pass. So if you are opposed to any piece of zoning legislation, it's very important that you attend and speak at the public hearing at the Metro Council in addition to the public hearing at the Planning Commission meeting.”
🏘️ Unified House Strategy Unveiled This morning, Mayor O’Connell and the Metro Planning Department’s Housing Division released Nashville’s first Unified Housing Strategy. The UHS is a “comprehensive roadmap designed to address Nashville’s housing challenges,” and includes seven strategies to create a housing ecosystem to address affordability, promote homeownership opportunities, and preserve housing security for renters and homeowners.
“With the release of the Unified Housing Strategy, Nashville now has an implementation plan where our collective work can result in a future where all Nashvillians have access to a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home,” said O’Connell in a press release. “Housing impacts every Nashville neighborhood, business, family and individual, and the Unified Housing Strategy calls on all Nashvillians – residents, employers, developers, financial institutions, philanthropists, Faith communities, and community leaders – to join together and play an active role in implementing housing solutions for our city.”
“Factors contributing to Nashville’s housing issues are complex and long-standing and cannot be solved by a single tool or policy change – or by Metro alone,” said Metro Housing Division Director Angie Hubbard. “The wide-ranging strategies and actions in the UHS require collective ownership and commitment from both the public and private sectors – and from everyone who believes that every Nashvillian deserves housing security.”
DEVELOPMENT
- Former Smokin Thighs site sells to investor group (NBJ)
- Corner Pub shutters its Brentwood location (NBJ)
- Tantísimo opening soon in Sylvan Park (NBJ)
- WeHo property of restaurateur killed in hit-and-run sells (Post)
- Williams-Sonoma concept Rejuvenation opens at Hill Center (Post)
✹ MEMPHIS, ANDY KAUFMAN, & INTER-GENDER SPORTS
Step back fifty years in time with me if you will. A simpler time. You wake up in the house you could afford on a single income. Instead of blinding yourself with the light of your cell phone first thing in the morning, you wake up to make breakfast and coffee, your mind unencumbered by the stimulus of a thousand notifications. You can’t doom scroll (nor can you conceptualize what that even means).
You breathe in the moment, smelling your coffee with a deliberate, meditative inhale… As this brief moment of Nirvana passes, you decide to pick up the newspaper. You turn to page nine and see that Andy Kaufman, a comedian/performance artist you’ve seen on Taxi and Saturday Night Live, has declared himself “The Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World.”
You are tempted to think this may be a joke, but suddenly you remember that you stepped back in time from the 21st century. You’re a modern person with evolved values. You ask yourself: is this an elaborate bit from Andy Kaufman, or was he simply ahead of his time? After all, you’re from the modern world where Imane Khelif is celebrated for his stunning and brave foray into women’s boxing (and where strangely, most news sources seem to deny that he’s a man).
✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (April 29th)
Transformers One (Prime) While Hasbro’s alien robots don’t have the best cinematic legacy, this animated origin from last year manages some impressive character development and a treatise on deplorable populism that puts it on par with anything in the Pixar and Illumination roster.
Andor (Disney+) If a terrible twenty-year-old Star Wars prequel can gross $25 million in one weekend upon its rerelease, then the ultimate Hollywood franchise still has some mojo. The second season of this prequel following the titular supporting character from Rogue One is easily the best offering the franchise has had since 1983’s Return of the Jedi.
The Accountant (Hulu and Prime) The sequel to the 2016 actioner featuring Ben Affleck’s OCD-laden mob numbers cruncher was a surprise hit this weekend. It’s the perfect time to revisit the original, which is an admirable and fun throwback to the meaty paranoid thrillers that made the 70s so rich for moviegoers.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Dehd @ The Mil, 7p, $25, Info
🪕 The Fretliners @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
🎸 Lucy Dacus @ Ryman Auditorium, 7:30p, $39.50+, Info
🎸 Santana @ The Pinnacle, 8p, $122+, Info
🎸 Momma @ The Basement East, 8p, $33.44, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).