Apr 30, 2012
By Wendy Sanacore
I just got back from vacation. My family and I went to Marco Island, Florida for a week, rented a house and just relaxed on the beach…well as much as we can relax with an 18 month old running around.
So I have a couple observations about technology…
1. Transportation – It’s awesome what it can do to cut down on travel time. We boarded the plane in Buffalo, got into the air and in the two hours it took my baby girl to take a nap, we traveled the length of the country and were in a whole new world. AWESOME!!
2. WiFi – So while we can stay connected with the world via WiFi, this is what I consider the real double-edged sword. We had a moment of panic when we got to the house and figured out that we couldn’t figure out the wireless password. I knew I needed to be online so I could keep up to date on the status of work projects. So the momentary panic I had was alleviated for a minute when I realized that I could check my phone for email. This however didn’t help the “Go To My PC” program that I had set up that allowed me access to my desktop computer at work. I did not have access to that all week.
So my main source of stress throughout the week was checking my email and making sure that everything was running smoothly at work. I had several co- workers heading to a conference in Las Vegas and I had left several items in another co-workers hands and (as a perfectionist) I had a fear that they just wouldn’t get done without me there.
I felt a great need to STAY wired, even though I was on vacation. It’s the overachiever in me, I suppose. But technology didn’t let that turn off. Had I been on a cruise or something, trust me, I wouldn’t have stayed plugged in, but because I had the option to be, I felt like I MUST be.
3. Cell Phones – Great, great way to keep in touch with the family and take pictures and stay connected to life outside of Marco…HOWEVER…and this is a big HOWEVER…it sucks time out of your day.
Taking a walk, enjoying the weather, my husband was taking pictures of the homes on the Island and sending the pictures to his family back home. Very nice way to keep them in the loop of where we were and what we were doing. And here’s the HOWEVER…As I was walking with the stroller, I lost my husband. He was about 15 houses behind me, texting back home.
So now while it’s nice to stay connected, it’s almost disconnecting in the moment we were in.
Look, I’m all for technology. Heck, it pays my paycheck each week. Without technology, there would be no TxMQ, therefore no job. But sometimes, it would just be really nice to be able to check out. I think everyone mentally needs that relaxation, though I know some of you would disagree.
I am a huge fan of sitting back and taking in the moment and memories as they happen and while technology helps make memories, the preoccupation with it can also shift focus away from what is truly important.
