Technology Tidal Wave
Imagine the scene, you have been waiting desperately for a call, hours, days maybe..when suddenly that special ring tone jingles and you pick up on the first ring saying "hey" in a way that is reserved for your special peeps..and then there is nothing! no sound coming from her end, she cannot hear you..there is absolutely no sound waves being transmitted from one end to the other..talk about disappointing!
but wait, it gets better. you reason with yourself that its not that big a deal, one day without a phone is probably good for you, after all R'Wallerstein was going on and on and on last night about the evils of today's technology..so its not that bad. After work, I'll go to the store, they will fix it..and it will all be blessedly glorious!
After work, you get into the car, driving along in after work traffic and as you reach for your phone to make good use of this traffic time..you remember..hello..the reason I'm here in the first place is cuz my phone DOESN'T WORK! Finally, we have arrived at our destination. it takes a bit of convincing to the lady that my phone doesn't work, she has to test it out and when she sees that there is no sound.."oh that is a problem" SHKOYACH! is what I'm thinking..so the helpful sales lady tells me she'll replace it..great..but there is a catch..there is not one store in 100 MILE RADIUS that carries my phone..seriously, i know right?
so shes gonna order it for me, but it takes two days and since they don't ship on weekends..that means till Monday..no phone! and maybe this is a sign that i am overly attached to my mobile communications device but that was really not so happy news in my life..i begged, i pleaded..give me something..anything..old, used..cheaper..something (you noticing the exasperation?) no she has nothing to offer me..so phone less and feeling a bit disabled i walked out, couldn't even be tempted by Starbucks to alleviate my mood..i went home and sulked on the couch..
Fast forward a few hours..we found a really old ghetto phone in the house, reminiscent to the samsung seminary phone...to tide me over till Monday..but u know that means I'm carrying two phones around these days..pathetic i know..plus my itouch..man..i need help..
yes..and no...i hear all the time about rabbanim and speakers going on and on about how we are addicted to our ipods, phones, blackberries (they get their own category) laptops, YouTube..etc. and to an extent i agree. there has been an influx of technology that has taken over our lives and in cases has replaced our lives. There are people who are willing to ignore the people around them, not to actually go out and be active because they have a show to watch, you tube clip they must see..check twitter and all the news in FB.
yes, it has gotten to be too much, but i also get a bit defensive when i hear all these outcries...for i do not believe that i am attached per Se to the computer chips i carry around..rather they represent relationships. Without my cell phone i would be virtually friendless, for i have few friends who actually live within driving distance. without the advent of email, IM, and Skype..i would not be friends with some of my nearest and dearest..
but then again, there are times when i have chastised myself for spending too much time online, staying up hours past when i should be sleeping, because its always "right after this ill go to sleep..." all those precious hours i could have been sleeping, lost! so now i have made restriction, no pod in bed, cell phone is still there for alarm clock purposes..i put on a K9 filter that blocks utube, yea i have the password but every 15 mins it resets so I am aware of the time passing.
we are drowning in this technology tidal wave..but we have to (e)start swimming..and swimming hard. It is a battle and we have to know what we are doing when we are facing this yetzer hara. When Adam ate from the tree, at that moment all good got mixed with the ra there is nothing besides Torah that is completely good or evil. There are neshamot from klal yisrael that have been exiled into the nations and need to return. Its a huge mosh pit out there and like on shabbat, we can only do borer in a certain way, we have to take the good out of the bad, and use it immediately in a constructive manner or its likely to get muddled in the grey again.
so do use my phone a little too much, maybe..but do i take care to put up fences? yes (hello only 250 txts a month)
I've taken my steps...what are yours?
(this is not to say that i don't think i have room for improvement)
but wait, it gets better. you reason with yourself that its not that big a deal, one day without a phone is probably good for you, after all R'Wallerstein was going on and on and on last night about the evils of today's technology..so its not that bad. After work, I'll go to the store, they will fix it..and it will all be blessedly glorious!
After work, you get into the car, driving along in after work traffic and as you reach for your phone to make good use of this traffic time..you remember..hello..the reason I'm here in the first place is cuz my phone DOESN'T WORK! Finally, we have arrived at our destination. it takes a bit of convincing to the lady that my phone doesn't work, she has to test it out and when she sees that there is no sound.."oh that is a problem" SHKOYACH! is what I'm thinking..so the helpful sales lady tells me she'll replace it..great..but there is a catch..there is not one store in 100 MILE RADIUS that carries my phone..seriously, i know right?
so shes gonna order it for me, but it takes two days and since they don't ship on weekends..that means till Monday..no phone! and maybe this is a sign that i am overly attached to my mobile communications device but that was really not so happy news in my life..i begged, i pleaded..give me something..anything..old, used..cheaper..something (you noticing the exasperation?) no she has nothing to offer me..so phone less and feeling a bit disabled i walked out, couldn't even be tempted by Starbucks to alleviate my mood..i went home and sulked on the couch..
Fast forward a few hours..we found a really old ghetto phone in the house, reminiscent to the samsung seminary phone...to tide me over till Monday..but u know that means I'm carrying two phones around these days..pathetic i know..plus my itouch..man..i need help..
yes..and no...i hear all the time about rabbanim and speakers going on and on about how we are addicted to our ipods, phones, blackberries (they get their own category) laptops, YouTube..etc. and to an extent i agree. there has been an influx of technology that has taken over our lives and in cases has replaced our lives. There are people who are willing to ignore the people around them, not to actually go out and be active because they have a show to watch, you tube clip they must see..check twitter and all the news in FB.
yes, it has gotten to be too much, but i also get a bit defensive when i hear all these outcries...for i do not believe that i am attached per Se to the computer chips i carry around..rather they represent relationships. Without my cell phone i would be virtually friendless, for i have few friends who actually live within driving distance. without the advent of email, IM, and Skype..i would not be friends with some of my nearest and dearest..
but then again, there are times when i have chastised myself for spending too much time online, staying up hours past when i should be sleeping, because its always "right after this ill go to sleep..." all those precious hours i could have been sleeping, lost! so now i have made restriction, no pod in bed, cell phone is still there for alarm clock purposes..i put on a K9 filter that blocks utube, yea i have the password but every 15 mins it resets so I am aware of the time passing.
we are drowning in this technology tidal wave..but we have to (e)start swimming..and swimming hard. It is a battle and we have to know what we are doing when we are facing this yetzer hara. When Adam ate from the tree, at that moment all good got mixed with the ra there is nothing besides Torah that is completely good or evil. There are neshamot from klal yisrael that have been exiled into the nations and need to return. Its a huge mosh pit out there and like on shabbat, we can only do borer in a certain way, we have to take the good out of the bad, and use it immediately in a constructive manner or its likely to get muddled in the grey again.
so do use my phone a little too much, maybe..but do i take care to put up fences? yes (hello only 250 txts a month)
I've taken my steps...what are yours?
(this is not to say that i don't think i have room for improvement)
This is so true! I'm trying to detach from my phone a little bit by not running to check who sent the text message if I'm in middle of something...like, yes, it could wait until I finish what I'm doing.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's also important to try not to interrupt people you are in middle of talking to when your phone rings or beeps with a message.
It takes work but it's worth it!