Remember the days when apple was just that red round thing responsible for the discovery of gravity? Or when blackberry was just a fruit full of vitamin A, potassium, and calcium? Those were the good days… when people didn’t sue each other because of something they didn’t even mean to say in social networks.. when mothers paid more attention to their children instead of their cell phones… when TV was used to gather family members instead of being used as a tool to silence a child’s desire to ask ‘why?’.
Do I sound like a middle-aged technophobe? Maybe I am.. the technophobe part , I mean, not the middle-age part…. I think… But I must admit that I’m not THAT keen on technology… Sure, sure, there are times when my life, not to mention my writing, has been improved by it.. (from where do you think I get the information about what black berry is full of?), but do we truly need all those gadgets?
My husband and I once didn’t have a TV for more than a year. After the birth of our son, we decided to donate the TV to my husband’s parents, as the one that they had at that time was so ancient it didn’t have a remote control (seriously). We lived in this small studio-like room, so a TV, with its sound, glare, and radiation was definitely not high on our list.
I didn’t miss it AT ALL. I didn’t miss the gossips, the news about this disaster, that accident, this politician going here, that celebrity going there. I just didn’t. That one-year-of-TV-less experience led me to a conclusion that my life was not THAT enriched by the existence of it. On the contrary, I found that by not having one, I could concentrate on raising my son, really talking and reading to him, and watching him grew. And I also did a lot of talking to my husband (among other things), instead of just sitting like zombies watching nothing.
Sadly, I have to admit that we are now the proud owner of 42-inch flat LCD TV.. But it was MY HUSBAND who succumbed to the temptation of it, NOT ME.. (and this is coming from a person who wrote something about not liking excuses.. )
Maybe I AM getting older. People say that older people dislike technology. Maybe I AM a typical female. People say a typical female wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between tablet the gadget or tablet the medicine. But if I have to be all that to: communicate with people with my mouth instead of my thumbs and fingers, spend precious time with my son, who still thinks I’m the centre of his universe, have meaningful conversation with my husband, smell the real smell of flowers instead of the ones posted in Flickr, and enjoy life more, so be it. I’ll wear that Typical-Technophobe-Female badge proudly on my sleeve.
USEFUL VOCAB :
Middle-aged : in the middle of your life before you are old
Technophobe : someone you hates technology
Gadget : a small piece of equipment that does a particular job, especially a new type
Succumb : to not be able to stop yourself doing something
Temptation : a feeling that you want to do or have something, although you know you should not
Wear (your heart) on your sleeve : display one's emotions openly
Word count : 575 words
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