Tuesday, October 1, 2013

No to techno.

A chat with a friend, adamant to remain disconnected from technology so he gets his 24 hours of "life" per day, only recently started carry a cell phone because of health issues.
Never touched a computer except for when he worked for a few months at a gas bar, quipped that the Lottery machine was about as close he came to operating one.

Having worked with him several years ago, I took an interest in his carpentry skills and always tried to keep in touch, albeit few and far between when we would actually be able to hookup and chit-chat.

It was not until recently that we chatted, I asked him why technology does not work to his advantage. Banking online, staying in touch, being able to say "I'm ok" or "Happy Birthday". No, he still goes to the bank, never been online. Fumbles to text message when his kids bug him to do so. Snail mail is the preferred choice of communication. I'm left scratching my head - how can this be efficient and give you your 24 hour day?

He merely replied "I don't need to count the hours in a day. If I do, I'm on a schedule. I'm retired, I do not have a schedule. People are dying far too early because they need to pack that extra hour into their day."
"If a cell phone or computer buys me an hour of time, what did I push aside to gain that?"

I told him he should be a philosopher. So true.