A Slave to Technology

Do you remember party lines?...rotary phones?...busy signals?...ringing with no answer?  If so, you, like me, are part of a dying breed. 

I've started watching the early Cosby Show episodes with my kids.  We started with the very first episode.  It's fun to see Brady laugh at all the right moments.  I've seen them so many times that I know when to watch him.  I love it!  The other day we were watching an episode where Denise is talking on a rotary phone to a friend when Cliff comes up and takes the phone from her and tells the friend that's he's hanging up now.  Brady looked at me and said, "How does he hang that phone up?".  Wow.  That's when I realized that my youngest child is growing up in a world of only cordless phones.  We don't even have a home phone, but my parents have gone completely cordless.  So, he's never really seen anyone use a corded phone.  It would really blow his mind if he could see how we dialed a rotary phone! 

I am a slave to technology.  Don't feel sorry for me.  This is a self-imposed captivity.  I am a gadget girl.  I'm the one that hooks up all the electrical wires when we get a new TV or DVD player or whatever.  I'm also the one who usually figures out any new gadget we get.  I've had a cell phone for years now.  I upgrade at every availability, if not sooner.  I always get a phone that's a little nicer with more capabilities.  I love playing with these things.  Back in the summer I upgraded to my first "smart" phone.  Talk about a whole new world!  I now have email, Facebook, and internet at my fingertips at all times.  This is both a good and bad thing.  I find myself constantly checking it.  I turned the audible alert for emails off.  I get so many that my phone would be in a constant state of beeping if I didn't.  Instead, a little red light flashes nearly continuously.  And if I see that, I feel obligated to check and see what message awaits me.  It has become almost an annoyance. 

Why do we feel the need to be so available and so connected at all times these days?  Are we ever unreachable?  I am, only for the time I spend in church.  My phone is put away on silent for that time frame.  There are times that I think I'd like to just turn my phone off and put it away during a normal day, but I don't dare.  I would have to post it on Facebook and call people just to tell them that I'm turning it off.  I wouldn't want anyone to worry if they tried to reach me and couldn't.  Isn't this ridiculous? 

Sometimes I long for a simpler time.  When I was a kid, if you left the house, you were unreachable.  If you went outside, you were unreachable.  If you happened to be talking on the phone, no one else could interrupt that call but the ones in your own house walking by.  If you happened to share a party line with a talkative neighbor, you might be unreachable and not even know it.  Somehow, the world still went round.  People didn't rush over to check on you.  It was just accepted that you were doing other things.  I think that would be a nice way to live.  I think we would be able to focus more time on those we love if we were a little less connected to the outside world.  It's easy for me to say this, but I will undoubtedly be tied right back to my phone the minute I quit typing this. 

I am making a concerted effort to change one thing in my phone routine, though.  I am choosing to try and ignore my phone while driving.  I watched an episode of Oprah the other day with a guy that killed two men, fathers, while texting and driving.  This guy lives captive to grief and guilt now and will for the rest of his life.  It's just not worth it.  Two families were destroyed by the loss of their fathers, and one family was destroyed by losing the person responsible.  He's still alive, but he's not the same guy he once was.  He served time in prison.  People, no text or phone call is worth this.  We think that texting is bad, but they did experiments with people just talking on their phones, even hands-free.  You lose so much of your reaction time by being distracted with your conversation.  It's just not worth it.  I don't have anything to say that is so important that it can't wait the 5, 10, or even 30 minutes that I'll be driving.  Please join me in trying to avoid using your phone while driving.  And if you try to reach me with no success, don't fret.  I'm either driving or just taking a break from my addiction to communication.  Leave a message.  I will get back to you...eventually.