Interesting Subjects in Class: MrBeast.

Hey, readers!

I'm in a vocation class here at Blessington, named "Technology Support Systems". Our class aims to educate these justice-impacted individuals on at least the basics of computing, and to prepare them for entry level job opportunities in the free world.
There are people in this room with varying levels of experience, from none to former field service technician, so there is an eclectic blend of knowledge in the room.

One thing I can gladly say is that most of these people are eager to learn about computers and technology, understanding that it is the wave of the futur^W present.

We, as 'inmates' do not get internet access, so we lack the ability to do as the world does: use online resources for up-to-date learning opportunities. In fact, we have a minimum of content, much of it created by students in class, finished off with one of our only two class books dated seven years ago.

Before it snowed here in Blessington, it was a 'Freestyle Friday', where we discuss most anything in class. No politics, no religion, no sex, no glorification of drugs; most anything else is fair game. We occasionally watch a movie or documentary as something we can learn from -- the instructor buys them with her personal funds to bring them in after Warden approval has been secured, and she must leave them here without recompense.

There's a gentleman in our class who is a novice at computing, having been away from the world for a couple of decades now. The class had segued onto the subject of foods, so I decided to engage in some of the class banter when someone mentioned cookies. I stepped into the conversation with a comment of how I missed ordering Insomnia Cookies for delivery at 1 in the morning.

What kind of cookie is a Insom... Wait, they deliver cookies now?

He activated my discussion module with that, and several others were happy to contribute.
"Yes, there are companies who deliver cookies at one in the morning," I began. "In fact, you can live much of your life without leaving the house once you understand the technology! I can see my doctor in my living room; just hold up the smartphone. I can have prescriptions delivered to my doorstep. Groceries can be dropped off with a ding-dong, 'Delivery!', and that's just the surface."
Another gentleman chimed in, mentioning DoorDash and Uber Eats, provoking a GrubHub of Opportunity out of me.

We explained to him that these services pay a driver to visit any number of restaurants or convenience stores, pick up a preordained list of items you've approved, and deliver them to your flat in a reasonable amount of time. He was stunned by this, but then asked:

But who would use this?

"People who either do not have a car, or need or want something, but lack the time to get it directly," I responded. "For six years, I didn't have access to a working car. I biked or bussed everywhere, which isn't an issue until I need something bulky, or find out I only have half an hour for lunch on a day where I didn't bring mine."

I go on to clarify that statement to give him a good picture of the type of people using these services -- everyday normal people who can afford to spend a little extra cash on occasion in exchange for saved time, in addition to other categories.

"Also, it gives me a chance to experiment with restaurants I've never seen," I said, circling back to the food delivery, "and that allows me to introduce virtual restaurants and ghost kitchens."

Now I have everyone's interest.

I chose a restaurant for the discussion, one Red Robin. Most of the class has heard of them. "What you may not have known is that Red Robin has a virtual restaurant inside, and operates some ghost kitchen works as well," I tell them as I explain the partnership with Donato's, an actual pizzeria who at the time of my arrest had virtual locations inside most Red Robins. I then mentioned ghost kitchens:

"When I was last walking outside, you could go on GrubHub and search for a place with burgers. Red Robin would come up, but so would places called The Fresh Set and MrBeast Burger. Now, all of these are at the same physical address, which is the only visual tipoff that something's not quite as it seems. This ghost kitchen," I explain, "is a way to get more business by appealing to our sense of exploration, which many of us needed during and immediately after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. People were staying home, baking all the sourdough, drinking all the Dalgona Coffee, and going stir crazy. Exploring a new restaurant appealed to their sense of adventure. That means with a minimal investment in infrastructure, a business can use this technology and technique to pivot and follow the money."

It's honestly not the first time we've mentioned MrBeast in class. We talked a bit one day about YouTube and the algorithms used to put eyes on content, and how this can turn the average everyman into a star. I brought up how his videos can show up in someone's feed even if they've never heard of him, simply by watching similar content. I even brought up a car giveaway that he did, where a high schooler had a short period of time to give away a number of cars to win a car for himself -- this was how I was introduced to MrBeast's channel, after watching a lot of car videos one day (and professing that I am "not a car 'guy'").

Nevertheless, the idea that a person can stay home, leaving for absolutely as little as possible stretched his horizons that day.

I can only wish that one day, we can change how backward prison is about technology. The urge to spend funds on giving justice-impacted individuals good access to the tools that can help them become better future neighbors just seems to be missing. If we fix this, we can improve lives one click at a time.

Let's give that a shot, shall we?