A Weekend Without My World

When we were first assigned the Quick Write that has us imagining what our lives would be if we had to give something electronic up, I thought Wow. Some of the people in this class really could learn something from this little experiment. However I did not actually realize how much of a slave to technology I have become since my first Nokia cell-phone in the fifth grade, or my “coolest-thing-ever” GameBoy in the sixth grade. I did this experiment: I truly sat down, thought out what electronic device I use more often than the others, and I drafted a plan. At first, the answer was easy: OK, your cell phone is ALWAYS in your hand. It needs to go for a couple of days. I literally have my phone in my hand on the way to every class, and when there is no reception and my roaming network is on the fritz, I can be seen with an arm outstretched in the corner, waving my phone around, desperately searching for the smallest ounce of reception. But then I thought of what I would miss the most, not what I necessarily use the most.

For me, my Itouch is the source of my procrastination. Every spare minute I get in class, I plug in my ear phones, press the “Shuffle” button, and melt into another world. Whenever I need to check my bank statement, I connect to the nearest unlocked Wi-Fi and enter cyberspace. And if I find I have sufficient funds in those accounts, I use my Itouch yet again to do some online buying. Sometimes, when I am sitting alone at my work on a rainy day, and have not seen a customer for hours, I mute the TV and begin playing Rock-Band… Via my Itouch.
So this is what happened when I decided to go a weekend without the use of my Itouch….

I can describe this with one word: WITHDRAWAL.

I do not honestly think I can survive another two days in a world without Itouch-es. It was torture! I was forced into listening to my family’s conversations in the car while I was driving with them, and worse than that, I had to suffer the unbelievable torment and jealousy that was seeing my sister enjoy the luxuries of her own Itouch. Right in front of me. Fortunately, I did not let her know that I was on this electronic fast; otherwise she probably would’ve rubbed it in my face far worse than she unknowingly did.

Even though my two days without my Itouch were incredibly hard and had me biting my nails, shaking my feet, and playing with my hair out of boredom, I found some clarity. When I was left alone with my thoughts and the unusual conversations that roam through the chatter at my house and in my classes, I realized that some people actually have interesting things to say. And some people shouldn’t be talking at all. While I am not even the slightest bit tempted into giving up the one electronic that spurs my workouts and fuels my meditations, I do think it was a profitable experience. If it taught me anything, it is that I should be worried about future generations, where we will all be so isolated and alone in our own little worlds, that socializing will be something for Twitter, not a Saturday night.