Last night I had trouble with my computer. I went to reboot.....it turned off....and it stayed off.
And just like that my evening was done. I could do no more. Everything I was trying to do was attached to my computer.
Thankfully, my guru lives next door and has been known to come by at 11:30pm to get me going again. However, as my task wasn't as urgent, I just sent him a text and went downstairs.........with my Iphone and Ipad....so I could watch TV.
Does this sound familiar to you?
We can't even sit in front of the TV anymore without some other stimulus to get us going? (or is that just me?)
As I sat in front of my TV for my "down time", I checked email and facebook just to make sure some catastrophic event didn't happen in the last 5 minutes of me being away from my computer. In the meantime, I am watching a show via TIVO, so I don't have to endure ANY commercials, and while fast-forwarding my TV with one hand, I have my Ipad in the other.
I couldn't help but think about how I looked sitting there to anyone who walked in the room. And the sad thing is.....I would look, "NORMAL". Because anyone who has small electronic devices have become so addicted, that even a normal conversation with a human being is considered a waste of time unless we are multitasking with phone in hand.
It took my husband over a year to convince me to get the Iphone. I thought, NO WAY!!! I do NOT want to be one of "those" people. The ones who stand in line next to their partners, or spouse’s texting (probably to each other).
I was incensed by "those" people and I refused to become part of their generation. And now, fast forward 18 months. Not only do I have an Iphone and an Ipad. I'm one of "those" people. AND....I JUSTIFY IT!
(I'm shaking my head as I write).
I predict that soon, you will walk into Yoga studios and see people in a Child’s Pose while glancing over their Ipads (which they can type with their nose in said pose). I predict that we will have face time with people during lunch (with the people sitting across the table from us.)
I predict we will lose all sense of real conversation as well as the ability to spell properly, thanks to the txting rvltion.
I am not against computers. (I mean I am sitting here right now, aren't I?)
I think computers are great. They make our lives easier, keep us connected, put the world at our fingertips. What's not to love???
Well....they provide a hiding place for husbands (okay...and wives and children). Wait....sometimes that is a good thing too....hmmm........
Okay, well you get the point.
Our lives have become wrapped up in this technology which is great. But over time, all I see is a generation of "What's Next?" Our ability to become stimulated is solely wrapped up in what we can get into our hands. Children sit in cars saying, "I'm bored" after a five minute car ride.
I once gave a stuffed animal to a child and they looked at me and said, “What does it do?” I said, “Nothing….it’s a stuffed animal!” I was so sad. My heart hurt.
The ability to imagine is slipping away from us. It's being fed by those who are imagining (or rather determining) our electronic future. It's kind of scary!
My vow, is to raise kids who can get bored and imagine their way out of their boredom without an electronic device in their hands (okay, sometimes). I'm not stupid, just don't want my kids to be one of those kids you try to talk to and they don't even know you are in the room. And if they do know you are in the room, they cannot converse properly.
And for myself, I'm going to work on eye-to-eye contact when talking with someone. Actually leaving the phone in my purse while at work, even though I may start twitching. (don't judge me).
I think we all need to make a conscious effort to go back to basics every so often. Spend a day without computers (wow that was hard to write), or TV's for a day. Spend time talking TO each other.
I'll get right on this!
(but not today.)
Happy Thursday!
No comments:
Post a Comment