Week 7 #17

I love technology. As a technology training assistant, I should love technology, it is my job. My family jokes because I will hesitate to spend any money on clothes/make up etc. But when a new gadget comes out...I wait in line for hours and justify the money spent.



I can't imagine my life without technology. I wake up in the morning to the sound of the alarm on my smart phone. Instead of hitting the snooze button, I hit the email button and check my emails before I get out of bed. As I drive around town, I listen to an audio book. If I am sitting in line to pick up my child, I read an ebook or type an email. If I am at my brother's house, I can type up documents. I take pictures of my daughter or something that I see as funny at any time. I also, record videos of her swimming or just kidding around with her friends. I listen to music as I bike or walk. I track my weight watcher points. I play bejeweled when I am bored. I go online and read news or shop. All of this is done from the convenience of my phone.



In the morning after I leave my child at school, I log into my computer and work on a computer 500 miles away in Dallas, via remote access. I log onto websites and check claim status for patients, more than 30 claims in an hour. When I use to call into insurance companies, I would hold for 30 minutes and then talk to someone who said they can only 3 claims per call. Patients call me on a local Dallas number and I answer it in Seabrook because my phone lines are VOiP lines and for no extra cost I have 4 phone lines from 4 different parts of the country/continent so that people can make local calls to me even when I am not local. My stepchildren call a 905 number that rings on my home phone in Seabrook, at no extra cost.



When traveling to Canada to visit family, I can extend my visit because I can work from anywhere in the world....Well at least I use to be able to but I work for the county now and I have to limit my time.



Which brings me to the big draw back of technology....socializing. I could do everything from home and interact with people via chats, phones and emails but I missed the smiles. I missed the feeling you get when you see someone and their reactions to your stories. I missed hearing laughter as opposed to seeing "LOL". Because of that, I had to get a "traditional" job that allowed me to interact with people.



My fear is the youth of today have been so exposed to technology and so far removed from true socializing that they will become impersonal and not value life and companionship as much as my generation does. My daughter is 11 and she prefers to text message than to hear the voice of her friends. She prefers to chat online than to visit with a friend. And I find such a lifestyle can lead to being a harsh or less loving person. I have been on online posts and people can say nasty things. Things they probably wouldn't say in person but because on line posts are so impersonal, they say malicious things. Now I am not saying , all people do. But I must admit, I have said things online that if I was having the same conversation with that person, in person, I probably would have handled the conversation differently.



Technology is great. I just hope we don't replace human companionship with a keyboard and a monitor.