Old-Fashioned Kind of Girl

I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl. And I have a love/hate relationship with modern technology. Especially since I consider myself technologically challenged. While I sincerely appreciate the miracle of modern technology, it still overwhelms me a bit. And sometimes it creeps me out.

I feel like we don’t have any privacy anymore, at least not like we did in the good old days when I was growing up. When we were kids we didn’t text, message, or snapchat. We communicated the old-fashioned way. We stood on our front porch and yelled to our friends down the street to come out and play. Or we stood on our side porch and looked down the hill to see who was going to the swimming pool so we knew when it was time to join them.

We didn’t have answering machines, let alone voice mail. If we missed a call, they would simply call back at a later time. And under no circumstances would we answer the phone during dinner. It would have been considered the epitome of bad manners. Unlike today, where a family of four could eat dinner without even looking at each other, because they are so preoccupied with their cell phones.

The truth is, cell phones continue to perplex me. I can use one, but only on a limited capacity. I suppose it would help if I hired a ten year old to teach me a few things. But honestly, I kind of miss the rotary phone. It was so much easier back then. I miss the phone booths on every street corner. I even miss the party lines that some communities had, where you could listen in on your neighbors’ private telephone conversations.

On second thought, maybe we didn’t have as much privacy back then, either. But at least we aired our dirty laundry in our neighborhood and local community instead of blurting it out for the whole world to see and hear. And have it put in someone’s data base somewhere.

I really am an old-fashioned kind of girl. I prefer face time over screen time. I prefer holding a hand instead of a smartphone. I find the sound of a voice is so much sweeter than the sound of a keyboard. Most of all, I prefer lively conversation to the silence of a written response via text or email. Besides, I can talk a lot faster than I can type, and with a lot less mistakes as well.

I’m also a people person. I love meeting them, talking to them, and working with them. It is my life’s work. I need to embrace that part of myself just as I continue to embrace this wonderful but often confusing high tech world we live in. And to remember that there is always a person behind the machine.