Try this brief mental exercise: Imagine reaching for your smartphone and discovering that it is not there. Yes, a moment of silence is appropriate. The situation is enough to drive someone to drink, well, tea.
Initially I felt as helpless as a baby, minus the tears. My often utilized iPhone 4 was left behind while traveling this past weekend. My baby picture (right) shows the beginning of the realization that with some thought, this event may become a personal teaching moment.
After all, we did function prior to cell phones, didn't we? The question is, "How did we do it?" Answer: we used our memories. We did tasks for ourselves that we later delegated to smartphones including:
- Memorizing phone numbers
- Remembering appointment times and directions
- Spelling words
- Doing calculations
- Speaking face-to-face
To view this current situation as anything other than a temporary inconvenience would render me a shallow, spoiled and dimwitted American. Regardless of what some living outside the States may believe, we Americans do both think and drink tea. Being without a phone definitely provides opportunity to do more of both.
Please do not interpret this post as an ode to technology-free living. After all, there is no blog, i.e. web log, without the world wide web. Technology is a tool that adds convenience, speed and ease to our routines and we are blessed whenever access is available. However, there is no replacement for our brains and memories, virtual or otherwise. Any event which forces us to strengthen our brains and to boost our memories is a great outcome.
I'm so glad my brain remembered where I last placed my favorite technical equipment and while the memory is firing well... thanks Mom. Now, where's that tea? Cups up.
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