Technology is
amazing. I remember what a big deal it was when my dad brought home a color TV.
We soon learned how to adjust the color so everybody on the TV didn’t have
green skin.
My parents bought me an electric typewriter for my 21st
birthday!
I remember how important I thought I was when Roger bought
me an answering machine (remember the ones that played a little song?) Or when my father-in-law bought us our first
computer.
I also remember how dumb became when I got my first cell
phone. They’ve been smarter than me ever since. I need someone thirty years younger to explain
anything important to me. I’m a technology dinosaur.
I ate with my daughter Anny at the Sunrise Café on Tuesday
morning. The Sunrise is my regular stop
for oatmeal smothered in fruit. I have different breakfast buddies at least
three days a week. They know me at The Sunrise, and greet me by name and with
coffee. The waitresses are my friends and I know a lot of patrons by sight.
The only technology involved in my breakfast is the coffee
maker, the stove, and the overhead lights.
Anny and I ate, eggs and a pancake for her, and my regular
for me. Morning light poured in the window and lit up her big blue eyes. I
watched all her nuances of expression as she talked.
Finally I said, “This is the best way to talk. Face to
face.”
She agreed. And she is really, really good with technology!
I left The Sunrise that morning thinking that maybe I not such
a dinosaur. That my breakfasat eating buddies and I were really doing something
wonderful, creative and old school. That there really was something precious in
face to face conversation.
Technology is wonderful. I learned to skype and I watch Norah roll across the living room floor in
Lubbock, Texas. And I already have an important skill. One I mastered years ago.
Come on down to The Sunrise.
I’ll introduce you to my favorite waitress. And I’ll buy the coffee and we can just talk face to face.