Right now I am sitting on my porch typing. Sebastian my faithful Lab is sitting at my feet. I’m thinking about this latest of fads called tripping – or twerping – or twitting or whatever it may be though the word containing “twit” seems to be the
most apropos. On the one hand, never before in history has so much information been available and shared between any two people outside of Siamese twins and on the other never has there ever been so much useless dribble, shared ignorance, and inane babbling going on. At least a room full of infants are trying to develop language skills with their babbling.
No longer need one pause to think before he apply pen to paper for fear of loss of precious materials. Our abilit
y to produce, publish, and push prodigious piles of poopery without real content is a curse of modern technical wonders. Bring back the paper society and charge highly for the precious commodities! Make us think before we commit to ink!
Of course, I am part of the problem. Here I blog – Sebastian now barking at the school kids released from the bonds of learning to attach themselves to portable phones, twitters and other devises. Oh! For the day when our only real enemy was trashy television. You can still send
the kid outside to play, but now all his electronic devices go with him! So, in protest against the peddling of empty caloried information I steadfastly refuse to post today. (I’m back – I had to get a piece of wood out of Sebastian’s mouth.) No, not one word, not one story or opinion! Mother may have said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it at all.” More modern mothers should instead say, “If you don’t have anything to say, don’t post anything!”
To modern Mom wherever she may be – this lack of a post is dedicated to you!
most apropos. On the one hand, never before in history has so much information been available and shared between any two people outside of Siamese twins and on the other never has there ever been so much useless dribble, shared ignorance, and inane babbling going on. At least a room full of infants are trying to develop language skills with their babbling.No longer need one pause to think before he apply pen to paper for fear of loss of precious materials. Our abilit
y to produce, publish, and push prodigious piles of poopery without real content is a curse of modern technical wonders. Bring back the paper society and charge highly for the precious commodities! Make us think before we commit to ink!Of course, I am part of the problem. Here I blog – Sebastian now barking at the school kids released from the bonds of learning to attach themselves to portable phones, twitters and other devises. Oh! For the day when our only real enemy was trashy television. You can still send
the kid outside to play, but now all his electronic devices go with him! So, in protest against the peddling of empty caloried information I steadfastly refuse to post today. (I’m back – I had to get a piece of wood out of Sebastian’s mouth.) No, not one word, not one story or opinion! Mother may have said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it at all.” More modern mothers should instead say, “If you don’t have anything to say, don’t post anything!”To modern Mom wherever she may be – this lack of a post is dedicated to you!
6 comments:
So true.
We played the "bad parents" when our daughters friends switched from talking on a regular phone to texting. No, she wasn't getting a phone to put in obscure coded combination of words to talk with her friends. Believe it or not, the friends turned out not to be "real" friends because they didn't want to talk with her anymore and if she couldn't get a phone to text...bye bye.
It is hard to be firm and stand firm. I would rather do anything else than try to find the latest software to monitor and protect our children while on the internet.
So if our children are twittering or twerping they are imitating a bird......
Wow! I really don't understand our obsession with knowing all things about all peoples all the time. Where in the world did privacy go? I like to think that I am "with it" or fairly so even tho I am considered "a senior"; but my life was so simple and peaceful in my youth, even tho I probably did not think so at the time. I truly simpathize with kids today. There is way too much on their plates and they cannot enjoy their young days.
Dear Father, Shall we attempt to sweep back the ocean with a broom? I'd like to try, but I won't be able to do it alone. On the other hand, my mother-in-law (1917-2006) mastered much technology over the course of her life (telephone, TV, radio, electric appliances, air travel and even driving a car). But, though she was a great cook, she never learned to use the microwave or a cell phone. Nor email. The computer she called "the telecom." I think that at some point we all say "enough" to the latest advancements. But our children are preparing for a world we will never see. Let us do our best to "infiltrate" their new technology, so that we can offer "parental guidance." Yet, I still do want to offer alternatives that don't require batteries, buttons and ear buds.
P.S., Father, you have very clevely "illustrated absurdity by being absurd." This post reminds me of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5, in which (in my humble opinion) the author did not tell us about Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. He showed it to us. (Nevertheless, for us dog lovers, nothing that St. Sebastian's "First Dog" does is trivial.) Keep up the good work.
I am so with the first comment--I received the "Mean Mom Award" because I won't allow my 13 year old to get her own cell phone to text. She's been grounded from facebook for a month now and will continue to be grounded until further notice.
Sure, peer pressure is there, and it's strong, but kids are the parents number one responsibility. And you know, getting the "Mean Mom Award" makes me pretty happy if I know what I'm doing is right!
LOL!
Well said - er - not said Matt!
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