Modern Conveniences
I have a new respect for all of our modern conveniences after today. We take for granted the impact that cell phones, computers, the internet, and air conditioners have on our lives. When I can't find my wife in the mall (I'm usually hungry and want to go home lest I waste money on a nasty meal in the food court), I simply pull out my cell phone and call her.
"Honey, where are you?"
"Shoe Carnival is having a great sale on shoes." (i.e. "I could be here a few hours")
"OK, just let me know when you are ready. Love you."
"Love you, too."
So then I spend the next hour or so wandering around the mall pondering how much simpler it was the call her than to hunt for her all afternoon while she is hunkered down in the back of the shoe store trying to find just the right shoe to go with that new blue suit she bought for work. Of course, the end result is the same- I am still roaming around, starving to death. For the fifth time I slip into Williams and Sonoma and grab a few bread squares and soak them in the gourmet olive oil they provide as free samples; by now the clerks recognize me as a "sample scavenger" and glare at me until I retreat back out of the store.
Today I was really struck with how pitiful our society would be if we were stripped of our technologies. At least, if everyone is as "soft" as I am. Having grown up in Maine, I should be used to temperature extremes, right? Well now I am a wimpy, heat pump and AC-dependant Southerner. After I returned home from work this morning and found the air conditioner not working (inside temp was 88), I did my best to fix it.
For me, fixing an air conditioner is somewhat like working on a car. I simply look at the unit (or open the hood) and stare at it with a thoughtful look, pretending I am pondering the complex systems that work together to run the unit. Since I was home alone I didn't have to pretend I knew anything so I just turned it off and left it for a few hours in case it had "frozen up."
After that, I did what anyone would do- as little as I could. I played computer games, read a book and blogged. Yes, today I actually broke a sweat while blogging. I had a choice between hot and stuffy inside or hot and humid outside. I even considered taking my computer in to work and sitting around in the AC all day.
Well, this story ends well. After the unit had been off for 4-5 hours,I turned it back on around 4:00 and it worked wonderfully. The temperature was down from 88 to 85 by the time Sarah got home and down to 75 by the time we got back from church tonight.
Tomorrow I plan to do nothing as well, but I'll do it much more comfortably.
"Honey, where are you?"
"Shoe Carnival is having a great sale on shoes." (i.e. "I could be here a few hours")
"OK, just let me know when you are ready. Love you."
"Love you, too."
So then I spend the next hour or so wandering around the mall pondering how much simpler it was the call her than to hunt for her all afternoon while she is hunkered down in the back of the shoe store trying to find just the right shoe to go with that new blue suit she bought for work. Of course, the end result is the same- I am still roaming around, starving to death. For the fifth time I slip into Williams and Sonoma and grab a few bread squares and soak them in the gourmet olive oil they provide as free samples; by now the clerks recognize me as a "sample scavenger" and glare at me until I retreat back out of the store.
Today I was really struck with how pitiful our society would be if we were stripped of our technologies. At least, if everyone is as "soft" as I am. Having grown up in Maine, I should be used to temperature extremes, right? Well now I am a wimpy, heat pump and AC-dependant Southerner. After I returned home from work this morning and found the air conditioner not working (inside temp was 88), I did my best to fix it.
For me, fixing an air conditioner is somewhat like working on a car. I simply look at the unit (or open the hood) and stare at it with a thoughtful look, pretending I am pondering the complex systems that work together to run the unit. Since I was home alone I didn't have to pretend I knew anything so I just turned it off and left it for a few hours in case it had "frozen up."
After that, I did what anyone would do- as little as I could. I played computer games, read a book and blogged. Yes, today I actually broke a sweat while blogging. I had a choice between hot and stuffy inside or hot and humid outside. I even considered taking my computer in to work and sitting around in the AC all day.
Well, this story ends well. After the unit had been off for 4-5 hours,I turned it back on around 4:00 and it worked wonderfully. The temperature was down from 88 to 85 by the time Sarah got home and down to 75 by the time we got back from church tonight.
Tomorrow I plan to do nothing as well, but I'll do it much more comfortably.
posted by Bobby Wales at
6:47 PM
3 Comments:
True about technology. My cellphone LCD screen, ringer, and microphone died a couple of weeks ago and it was a few days before I could get a new one. I was totally lost!! It was horrible!!
Perhaps instead of Scotland your next vacation should be to revisit the Lewis & Clark trail, roughing it like they did. Oh, you have to leave your cell phone home! :-)
Hey there, Tanya and I were gone for about a week to DC...and ran "minimalist" on technology. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it might be...no internet, no computer, no email. We did have electricity and AC in our cabin, and of course the cell phone...so I can't say we were totally non dependent, but much less. :-) Glad to be back in Greenville though. Looking forward to seeing you and Sarah at Tanya's open house. :-)
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