Don't you hate it when your parents end up being right about something [insert question mark]. My dad always warned me never to eat at the computer, but who knew he'd be right [insert question mark].
I guess the spilled soda pop did more damage than I thought: the backslash[slash]question-mark key on my keyboard is completely fried. And now I feel completely vulnerable.
It could be worse. At least it's not the spacebar. (Canyouimaginewhatitwouldbelikeifthespacebarwouldn'twork.)
It amazes me how greatly one little key can affect my groove. All of a sudden, I can't formulate questions. I can't manipulate the html coding on my blog without the backslash. Life as I know it has ceased to exist.
Oh, how I long for the peace of mind that pervaded my life before technological dependence. I remember the good ol' days when I lived in a small town 10 miles from Nowhere, and afternoons were spent playing outside with sticks and mud.
It was the summer before I entered the third grade that Dad brought home our first computer. The bulky Packard Bell only had Windows 3.1 and was not connected to the Internet, but it quickly became a fought-over commodity. Thirteen years have gone by and my family now owns a total of seven computers. Two of those are solely mine (one of them being my malfunctioning laptop). Last year we added a DSL connection and networked all of the computers, so fighting over Internet time no longer meant a stronger attachment to (and dependence on) the dratted machines.
Living in the dorms my freshman year, technology really reared its ugly head. Instead of yelling at each other down the hallway, my suitemates and I would lazily IM each other. "I'm hungry. When do you want to go get dinner [insert question mark]." Face-to-face communication as I knew it disappeared.
I found myself staring at my computer screen for hours at a time, doing absolutely nothing. Checking e-mail, blogging, shopping but not buying anything, playing solitaire, reading my friends' IM profiles. I was the queen of wasting time.
Then last summer, my world was shaken when my AIM stopped working. At first, I totally flipped. How was I going to talk to my friends [insert question mark] How could they get in touch with me [insert question mark] And what exactly was I supposed to do instead of IM [I give up]
I inhaled deeply, closed my eyes, and exhaled. Life without IM would be fine. I had, after all, survived without it once upon a time.
I've been AIM-free now for nine months and counting. It's a little harder to keep up to speed with some people during my abstention, but all it takes is a phone call or an e-mail.
Looking around campus I realize I am not the only person facing technological dependence. It seems that every student walking around campus is talking on their cell, lugging an enormous laptop bag, or jamming to the music being fed into their ears by a portable MP3 player.
Sometimes, all of those ear buds remind me of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." I do not think our society has become so jaded that we need to worry about book-burning any time soon. I do think, however, that ear buds seem an awful lot like "seashell radios," and that fact just brings us one step closer to Bradbury's America.
Meanwhile, my recent keyboard-fiasco turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Somehow I have lured myself into the mindset that I must keep up with all of these things. I need to check my e-mail six times a day. I need to keep my cell phone on in case someone calls. I need to check my blog daily, because if I don't then the world will stop turning.
Riiiiight.
With summer break around the corner, it seems the perfect time to unplug myself. The time has come to break my addictions, or at least make an attempt control them. The funny thing about all these things - cell phones, laptops, MP3 players - when they are unplugged or turned off, life continues just the same.
I know that I'm not alone on this. Imagine your cell phone breaking and you can't get it replaced right away. Or maybe you spill soda on your computer and something insignificant like the question mark key stops working. What would your reaction be [insert final question mark]
Challenge yourself and take a break this summer, a break from technology. Spend a day, week, or entire month without your favorite little gadget. You don't have to live completely detached (feel free to appreciate those wonderful little advances like indoor plumbing and electricity). But turn off the laptop and let voicemail take your calls. Get outside. Read a book. Soak up some sun. And feel what it is like to live without all of those wires.
