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Saturday, June 30, 2018

Tell Me Why by Suzanne Rossi

Hi everyone.

It's officially summer and, boy, do those of us in the Mid-South ever know it! Mid-90s, humid, and the occasional severe thunderstorm. A couple of bad ones blew through over the weekend. It's estimated some 23,000 people are still without power. We had a bunch of tree limbs come down, but thankfully that was all.

Sometimes, I find digging up subject matter to discuss here kind of hard. Will what I write interest my readers? Will I know what I'm talking about? (Every once in a while, I wonder.) Will I sound coherent or ramble on? I never know. That was my dilemma this month. Then my grandkids came over yesterday and I had the solution. They came to spend time with Gramma and Grandpa, but had their noses stuck in their cell phones almost the entire day.

I came to the conclusion a year or so ago that I must be the only person left in America who doesn't have a smart phone. Mine is close to ten years old and does all that I require of it. It sends and receives call and texts, and costs $15 a month. If I have an emergency, I can call 911. That's all I need. The only people I call are family. Occasionally, I text a few friends. Yes, I can pull up the Internet if I want, but why? I don't need to be that connected. I get 200 minutes added a month. As of today, I've accumulated a grand total of 9,731.50 unused minutes. As you can see, I really don't need them to roll over.

I'll admit, that sometimes I flirt with the thought of upgrading, and then dismiss it. My granddaughter said, "But Gramma, you can get on all kinds of social media and see what's happening in the rest of the world. It's all right there at your fingertips." Big deal. I know what's going on in the rest of the world. It sucks. Plus her "rest of the word" consists of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Lord only knows what else.

I have personal and professional Facebook accounts and a professional Twitter account. To be honest, I don't know the difference between Twitter, Instagram, or any of those other "gram" sites. I'm never on YouTube and can't understand why some people are so enthralled with any of it.

I'm not really anti-technology. Technology can make our lives easier. If it wasn't for technology, we'd still be reading the the light of a kerosene lamp or driving a horse and buggy. Technology helped free up our time so we could spend it with family, which we did for quite a while. Remember when families did things together? And enjoyed it? Remember how family members took turns hosting Sunday dinners? Now, the family unit is fracturing and eating dinner together at the same time is looked upon as an oddity.

I fear we as a society have become so dependent on non-verbal communication that it is fast becoming a lost art. No one talks to anyone face-to-face anymore. I read an article (yes, online) that said younger people have trouble getting jobs simply because they can't express themselves in a live interview. This is crazy!

Kids, put your phones down and actually talk to someone. It's a whole new experience. And for the love of God, let your phone ring or that text go unanswered while you're driving. No phone call or text is that important that you have to risk your or someone else's life to answer immediately. Wait until you've reached your destination before replying.

But all of that would require common sense, and it seems everyone is in short supply of that commodity lately.

So, maybe someone who reads this can tell me why I need a smart phone. I'm listening and open to suggestions.

Hope you all have a fun Fourth of July, and I'll be back next month.

Suzanne

1 comment:

  1. Suzanne, I do check Facebook and the news on my Smart phone, but I agree with you about the over use of cell phones. My husband and I went to dinner one night and at the next table was a family--parents and three kids. Each person spent the entire meal on their cell phone. No talking to one another. I thought back to our kids telling us about their day and further back to when I was growing up. Mealtime was great family time. Sad to see that gone!

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