I also do not understand the lure of Twitter. Someone please explain the appeal because I am just not getting it. Maybe it’s because it has taken me this long to find blogging and I don’t jump on the latest trend but I also know myself and my tendencies. I don’t need to know what people are doing every few minutes, hourly or on a daily basis especially for celebrities and if I did, I know that would take me away from being present in my own life. I dare not allow myself to get hooked into the tweet world. It is too easy to fantasize that someone else’s life is more exciting and interesting than my own.
This is the human nature of the grass is always greener mentality,
and my own grass is pretty darn verdant.
I need to stay focused so I don’t miss what is under my own feet.
I don’t like to be tethered to technology or constantly available either.
I am notorious for not having my cell phone with me or if I do, there is no juice. It is not unusual for me to retrieve messages two weeks old which is proof if the message was that important they would have called my home. Mr. P. Martini called my friend who I was having a celebratory drink with to get a hold of me just to check in. What for? My desire not to be available 24/7 drives my family nuts at times but Mr. P. Martini is literally on call 24/7 for work so I figure he is the emergency backup.
I long for the day when there were no answering machines and if someone wanted to get a hold of you, they would *gasp* call back which has become an obsolete task and heaven forbid if your machine doesn’t pick up! People get peeved if they can’t leave a message. And what about call waiting? If you don’t answer ‘the beep’ (something I never do unless a child is out of the house) people tend not to understand you are trying not to be rude to whomever you are talking with and that they are not the priority at the moment. When that incoming call goes to a voice mail box then you have to retrieve it after you finish the original call. Perhaps technology is making more work for us with apologies we feel we have to make, rationales for being present with one person at a time and follow ups to return missed calls. I don’t like that.
Texting? Fuddgetaboutit. I think it gives people a perceived excuse that it’s acceptable not to make eye contact and not to interact with people standing right in front of them. What does this teach the younger generation? Most people will view a message coming in immediately and I feel this takes attention away from the conversation at hand which in my world is rude. Never have I been with someone who received a text message that has been an emergency. I am convinced all text messages can wait. They should be checked after you have excused yourself to move away from the table or in the ladies or men’s room. I am the only person I know who does not have texting and does not have it on my children’s phones and although I have offered it to college boy he is not interested. We if have something to say to eachother we call and talk and hear the love on the other end of the line. That, I like.
