For the love of text
As the season is about to be upon us it's time for the festive Dad's night out, a joyous occasion rarely remembered but always enjoyed. Being the stay at home dad that I am, generally the organising duties fall to me, as access to large numbers of parents is always to be had in the playground during drop off and pick up time. All sounding good so far. But here's the snag.
Although I write a blog, I am close to being a technophobe. I have a smart phone which I use about 3% of its actual capabilities (phone calls, texting and Candy Crush, obviously), I own a tablet (books, youtube and Candy Crush) and have daily access to a lovely state of the art laptop (blogging, youtube and some game involving sweets). I can't do spreadsheets, I didn't even realise I used Word until the wonderful wife asked what I thought I was writing on? and don't even get me started on social media. Again, I know it's strange for a blogger, but I don't get it. Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Google+ (yes I know I use it) but I just don't understand the worlds fascination with it. I like to write, full sentences with full words, using punctuation and capital letters and without the need for quite frankly stupid symbols which only say to me someone is too lazy to say what they actually feel. I like to talk. Full sentences with full words. I like to see the face of the person I'm conversing with if only to gauge whether they are bored or not. I like to be called, to hear someones voice and all that comes with that. Don't text. It's never important when people text so why would I stop doing what I'm doing just because you have got 30 seconds to kill and were bored?
I'm going off track a little here. The point being, organising any event when you are "old fashioned" like me is not easy. The response you can encounter when someone says "can you e-mail me" and you respond "but I just told you" can be unnerving, as though you are the weird one for not understanding the 21st century problem of people being unable to retain information. So I find myself in the position where over the next 2 weeks I shall be repeating myself to the same people over and over again until A) they shout at me or/and B) they start ignoring me in the playground. I'm made of strong stuff (honestly, mid forties, no hair, middle aged spread, stay at home dad, you have to be) but eventually even my feelings begin to get hurt.
So I find myself in a dilemma. I am fully aware that this is the 21st century, that we have all of these amazing, wonderful, technological devices that do marvellous things and that this, as much as it pains and scares me, is the world my 2 children will be growing up in. I am fully aware that I, and others, may miss out on certain things due to an inability to interact on social media. But if I'm honest dear reader, I'm afraid. I'm an old dog and these are new tricks. I want to understand but I'm afraid the old brain cells are fighting against it, the man who wants to talk, chat, natter, sit down with a cup of tea and have a conversation is battling with all of its might to keep me rooted in 1988. But it is the festive season, I want to be social so I can do all of these antiquated rituals, so the irony hits me. For me to stay old fashioned I need to embrace the now. If I'm honest, blogging is my effort to update this old hard drive, to take a step into the now, and it does blow my socks off that people all around the world read what I write.
So an early resolution, it's time to conquer fear, embrace the now and join the 21st century. I write a blog, lets move on to new things. Pass the smart phone, it's time to discover the love of texting. (Is there a manual I can read?????).
Although I write a blog, I am close to being a technophobe. I have a smart phone which I use about 3% of its actual capabilities (phone calls, texting and Candy Crush, obviously), I own a tablet (books, youtube and Candy Crush) and have daily access to a lovely state of the art laptop (blogging, youtube and some game involving sweets). I can't do spreadsheets, I didn't even realise I used Word until the wonderful wife asked what I thought I was writing on? and don't even get me started on social media. Again, I know it's strange for a blogger, but I don't get it. Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Google+ (yes I know I use it) but I just don't understand the worlds fascination with it. I like to write, full sentences with full words, using punctuation and capital letters and without the need for quite frankly stupid symbols which only say to me someone is too lazy to say what they actually feel. I like to talk. Full sentences with full words. I like to see the face of the person I'm conversing with if only to gauge whether they are bored or not. I like to be called, to hear someones voice and all that comes with that. Don't text. It's never important when people text so why would I stop doing what I'm doing just because you have got 30 seconds to kill and were bored?
I'm going off track a little here. The point being, organising any event when you are "old fashioned" like me is not easy. The response you can encounter when someone says "can you e-mail me" and you respond "but I just told you" can be unnerving, as though you are the weird one for not understanding the 21st century problem of people being unable to retain information. So I find myself in the position where over the next 2 weeks I shall be repeating myself to the same people over and over again until A) they shout at me or/and B) they start ignoring me in the playground. I'm made of strong stuff (honestly, mid forties, no hair, middle aged spread, stay at home dad, you have to be) but eventually even my feelings begin to get hurt.
So I find myself in a dilemma. I am fully aware that this is the 21st century, that we have all of these amazing, wonderful, technological devices that do marvellous things and that this, as much as it pains and scares me, is the world my 2 children will be growing up in. I am fully aware that I, and others, may miss out on certain things due to an inability to interact on social media. But if I'm honest dear reader, I'm afraid. I'm an old dog and these are new tricks. I want to understand but I'm afraid the old brain cells are fighting against it, the man who wants to talk, chat, natter, sit down with a cup of tea and have a conversation is battling with all of its might to keep me rooted in 1988. But it is the festive season, I want to be social so I can do all of these antiquated rituals, so the irony hits me. For me to stay old fashioned I need to embrace the now. If I'm honest, blogging is my effort to update this old hard drive, to take a step into the now, and it does blow my socks off that people all around the world read what I write.
So an early resolution, it's time to conquer fear, embrace the now and join the 21st century. I write a blog, lets move on to new things. Pass the smart phone, it's time to discover the love of texting. (Is there a manual I can read?????).
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