I started a couple of weeks off from my “real job” the other day. I was looking forward to the time with my family. It promised to start a bit different than any other vacation I’d taken before since it was the same day we would bury my grandmother. And another birthday for me.
The day began with a leisurely run and a few quiet minutes with my wife. Then… My smart phone started blowing up. An error happened at work that might cause some employees to be shorted pay. I took a minute to read an email and spent another minute writing one that put the issue to rest until I returned. So I thought.
I spent the next hour trying to get ready for a funeral with continuous interruptions. Each and every time my phone made a noise, one of my kids, who still think I am the most capable, important person in the world, came running with it in one hand yelling that so-and-so was calling or sending a text. Obviously, that overrode any concerns or thoughts I had about getting to go to my dear grandmother’s funeral. I allowed myself to become very frustrated and turned into a bear, and not the yummy gummi kind. Eventually, the situation was worked out and I only needed to call one person to apologize.
All this made me think about our cellphones and how much we “rely” on them. The elected official I work for holds an office that’s been around since 1882. While I’m not telling my kids because they’ll figure it out soon enough, I’m certain the office won’t implode without me there. So what have I been telling them?
It seems watching me has taught my children a poor lesson. Rather than learning that technology is a thing to be used to improve ourselves and our returns, they seem to have learned that it is something that should control us. I know I’ve been guilty of interrupting someone speaking to me with, “Sorry, I have to respond to this text” or worse, just reading messages while I ignore the speaker. How many times have you heard someone, or perhaps yourself, say, “I can’t wait to get the new insert phone, computer, tablet, video game console, etc?” Is it more often than you’ve heard it asked, “How can I help you?”
Technology in and of itself is amoral. A phone or computer makes no moral judgment and possesses no moral qualities. Since Christ stated that to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves summed up everything, our interactions with devices carry moral and social consequences. Actions speak louder than words and my actions have been screaming to my children that I love my cell phone.
Blech!
I find that exceptionally strange because if asked I think I’d state I hate the thing and the way it continuously interferes with my life. As such, this vacation is a vacation from that particular bit of technology as well. It’s working great too.
One week in and my phone rings in the other room and not a sound is made by anyone. Gone is the desire to run and answer it. Gone also is stress I’ve been feeling but unaware of. Coincidence?
cura ut valeas
This article was first published on December 22, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
