Wanderer

There is a lot about modern technology that I don't like, mostly the cost of it. Cell phones, telephones, computers, air conditioning, dishwashers, refrigerators, microwaves, DVD & VCR's, CD players/stereo systems, and cars. There's so much you have to learn to work the things, the inconvenience and uselessness of having them when there is no power, or the times when you can't get a signal, combine to make one wonder what did I ever do before I had one of these?

I remember washing dishes by hand, and towel drying them before putting them away. I remember hot and humid summers without air conditioning. No one had air conditioning when I was a kid, at home or in their cars. We just dealt with it, and dressed accordingly, and paced ourselves a little better.

I can't remember when we didn't have refrigerator, so I'm not that old, but I do remember when microwave ovens were only in the imaginations of science fiction writers.

I remember rotary dial phones... I have to admit, the pushbutton variety are a great improvement, especially with the added re-dial feature, and the message machine is a nice bonus for the person who is away from home every day.

The 8-track tape player in the car was a short-lived hot item once upon a time, but when it first appeared in our cars, it was the greatest thing next to the car radio! I still don't have a car CD player, and I don't have a DVD player for the backseat kiddies, probably because I don't have any backseat kiddies. I have a DVD player and a VCR player in my living room, and three CD players in various rooms of our home.

I am not a stranger to technology. I have never had trouble learning how to use any of it. Generally, I have been resistant to accepting something new because of the cost, and because I know it's one step closer to being controlled by my environment. But, once I've gotten over the initial newness of it, I can't imagine what I would do without it.

I remember in 1981 when we bought our first dishwasher. It was installed brand new in our brand new home. I didn’t use it for three weeks because I didn’t want to admit that I was finally becoming part of the “better off” population. I had been proud of myself for doing without new things for so long. I was pleased with how welived within the limits of our income. We had used cars, we paid for our own wedding, we scrimped and saved every dollar that wasn’t needed for living. We stayed home on vacation days to save money. We had very few possessions by the time we moved into our new home even though we had been married nearly six years. We had our three-year old son, a dog, a stereo, TV, refrigerator, dishwasher and dryer, some books, dinnerware, pictures, tools, and our clothes. The necessities.

When we moved into our new home, something changed, at least for me. I was better off than I had ever been before, and instead of celebrating that time in my life, I could only think about the rest of my family who was not better off, who were still scrimping and saving, and doing without. Having a “nice” house at last did not make me feel good about myself. I resisted using the new dish washer because I didn’t deserve it. How could I have a dishwasher and know that my mother was washing and drying her dishes still? I don’t remember when I started loading it up with dishes, but at some point, my husband eased me into the practicality of it, and, besides, we had it so we might as well use it.

I have come to rely on technology in my life, at home and at school, and appreciate the time it saves me, allowing me to do other less dreary kind of work, like read, draw, work as a teacher, and research on the internet, among other things involving relationships. Besides, I am controlled by my environment, and so how is one more new technological item going to lessen my quality of life?

I'm speaking of cell phones specifically. I don't own one, nor have I ever owned one, and I don't plan on owning one. However, this week, if it wasn't for a little technological feature that my husband had installed on our phone the day before my mother called me, I would not have been able to call my mother to find out how she fared during the storms that blew into central Georgia Monday.

You see, when she called me Friday to tell me she was safe in Georgia, she also told me her new cell phone number. I didn't realize until I hung up that the number she had given me was only the area code and the last four digits. I was missing the middle three digits. I couldn't call her back. Just today I mentioned to my husband about the mis-stated phone number, and he said all I had to do was check the numbers of who called recentlyon our phone.

"When did we get caller ID?" I asked. "A few days ago." So he checked the caller ID list of recent callers, and sure enough, there was my mother's phone number. I was able to call her, and found out that she is safe in Georgia, and will be returning to her RV at the campsite in Gulf Shores, Alabama. She had called her landlord there and found out that only one RV at the campsite was blown over, but hers was okay. She will be headed back to her temporary Alabama residence tomorrow.

She assured me she would try to set up a PO Box so that friends, family, and checks can be sent to her by mail.

I am not proud of my dependence upon technology. I'm not ready to ride a bike or a horse to work, and I don't think I want to trade electricity in my home for candlepower and kerosene lanterns, nor do I want to take cold tub baths instead of hot showers. I'm sure I would not benefit from washing my clothes in a barrel of rainwater, so I'm not going to give up my washing machine. I like flushing toilets and dishwashers, and microwave ovens. Also, the computer has opened up a new world that I only discovered in the past few years, that of the great, invisible web of connections around the world, and I'm not giving that up either.

The consequence of all this is that I have to pay for what has become, in my mind, necessities, things that other people in other parts of the world live without and would probably call indulgences.