Column: India National Cricket Team

Earlier this month Google announced the top global searches in 2017.

There were of course obvious searches like “Hurricane Irma”, “iPhone 8”, and “Fidget Spinner”, but I was really surprised to see “India National Cricket Team” come in at number ten on the list.

I guess with a population of 1.2 billion if cricket is the national sport, it is going to get a lot of searches. I tried to watch cricket once on ESPN at about 4 a.m. and it might have been the most confusing and never ending game I have ever witnessed. I kept hoping a Lion would be let onto the field and would cause a little bit of chaos because it was awful to watch.

While it certainly was fun to see the Google list, sometimes the Internet can scare me a little bit.

I’m not talking about the crazy “dark web” or something of a sinister nature; I’m talking about how a simple search can make me feel uncomfortable. I’ll be the first to admit that Walmart makes me quite nervous, but that I do go there for certain items, especially if I’m on a budget. The other day I was looking for some paper for our printer and went to the stores national website. I selected the Butte store to see if they had what I wanted in stock, made a purchase and proceeded to go on with me day.

The next time I went to the website it had a list of “suggested things to reorder”. The problem was I had ordered none of them online; they had all been purchased at the store. It was kind of creepy knowing that right in front of me was everything I had purchased in the past several months. From the cat litter to that wonderful easy cheese in a can, it was all present.

I’ve got a pretty sharp website (check out http://www.whitehallledger.com), but I’m no computer expert at all. I’m not sure how my credit card information from the store makes it pop my purchases up for me to see, but I’m not a huge fan of it. I’m hoping someday I won’t walk into my house and have somebody with a blue vest going through my cupboards to see what I might be running out of.

I know this is probably a very sophisticated system and many enjoy it, but it is not really my cup of tea. I’m not to the point where I’m going to wear an aluminum foil hat and think the government is bugging my phone, but I’d appreciate it if Walmart would tone it down a bit. I think that the possibility of ordering everything I need there would be a plus, I could just go and pick it up and not deal with the nonsense of a hundred people that don’t know shopping cart etiquette, but I would like to do so on my own terms. I won’t forget that my cats poop a lot or that I really like that processed cheese, so no additional help is needed.

I’m pretty sure this type of stuff also happens every time a store has a “discount” type card that is swiped before purchase. They most likely use the information for buying habits and sometimes it results in coupons, but at the same time it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Will I use the coupons a store will send of items I frequently purchase, sure, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. And if we are in a day and age of this sophistication, when I’m paying a utility bill do I really need to have to scroll down 500 countries just to get to the United States? I really doubt there are many people in Montana making payments from the People’s Republic of Congo or Azerbaijan.

I’m sure there has to be a happy medium with the online information being shared and how it helps stores and customers, but know matter how frustrated it makes me; it sure is a lot better than watching the India National Cricket Team. GO MEN IN BLUE!