We Don’t Use Technology—It Uses US
Thoreau
said, “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.” As I lift the couch cushions searching for
the television remote, I’m missing my show. I could just as easily walk to the TV
and push the buttons. But I resist; not
sure why.
Our
dependency on technology must be the same reason why I don’t know anyone’s
number by heart. My phone remembers
numbers for me. We all used to remember
a bunch of numbers. I still remember my
grandparents’ number, Pilgrim, or PI 4-2426. And, the exchange in Manhattan was
Murray Hill.
I
don’t have to be home to watch my favorite show I can TVO it. I can begin to watch the World Series or the
Super Bowl, go to the bathroom—even if I have food poisoning and stay in there
for hours and not miss a second, except the commercials. Which reminds me,
poison and poisson,
which I think is French for fish, sound and look so similar. Is that a fair warning that fish can be
poisonous? And, pollo is Spanish for
chicken. Do the romantic languages begin
the spelling of all their meats with P?
The
reason why all these ideas float in my head is because of technology. I spend too much time playing X Box, and I’m
on my cell phone all the time. My cell phone makes it impossible to hide from
my friends, or the government. Sure,
the GPS helps you find places, but it helps them
find you. Plus, I carry my laptop
everywhere I go—especially at Starbucks. I have to look like I belong, don’t I?
All this has caused my brain to have a critical mass meltdown.
So,
maybe Thoreau was right—perhaps I should go to the woods to live deliberately. But then again, I don’t have the servants to
bring me breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Damn all my youthful idols, Ginsburg, Dylan, Cleaver and Lichtenstein
are phonies.
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