Technology — A Blessing or a Curse?

In 1970 walking into the bank to deposit a check I abruptly stopped in my tracks. The section at the tellers was deserted yet in the front area of the bank there were long lines of people waiting to use a spanking new machine teller. I remember a few weeks prior when they were installing them, “This will be the new way to handle any business transaction. It will be fast, easy, secured — you’re going to love it!” the bank worker told me. I was curious but very skeptical.

Today they were bright and shiny and ready to be called to action!

I wasn’t quite ready to step into the lines with people so I sped up my pace to the first friendly teller and gave her my paycheck with the handwritten slip. I was a little worried about the tellers losing their job because of the new bank machines. We had a nice little chitchat as she completed my transaction. “How is your day?” “Oh it’s going pretty good — did you see the pouring rain finally stopped!” We jabbered back and forth.

As I walked out I noticed the tellers and long lines of people were looking at each other with uncertainty — not quite sure how this was going to play out.
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Twenty years later I traveled to Seattle to visit a friend. Her husband worked for Microsoft. I told him I had to ask a young person to help me buy my airline ticket on the computer. “Why was it so difficult,” he asked. My earnest response, “I couldn’t get my arms wrapped around how a plane would be there by clicking on a button — if you talk to a person you know with certainty, the plane will be there, not by clicking on a button”.

I’ve met other’s who struggled the same way as I did.

Back in 1990 working at a corporate office in New York I knew an older woman who decided to retire earlier then intended which surprised me. She was sharp, intelligent, and a confident Senior Executive Assistant. She explained, “I remember when we typed letters on a typewriter, mailed them and waited weeks for a response. At the end of the day we had a pile of letters that quantified our work for the day. It was tangible, I could see what I accomplished, but with computers coming into our world, well…”, her voice trailed off in sadness.

When on-line banking began my younger sister Ivy encouraged me to utilize it. There was a TV commercial with a lady paying bills on her computer as the bathtub filled with hot water. I got the message; easy, fast and now you’ll even have time in your life to take a bubble bath. But I wasn’t easily persuaded so I held back explaining to Ivy, “I don’t want my friends at the post office to lose their jobs — their nice people, I’ll mail my bills!”

It took me a number of years, a visit to the bank for a hands-on lesson and many phone calls with their IT department, but I’m now officially part of the 21st century and pay my bills on the computer.

As we all know the computer and Internet are deeply tangled in our lives and though it’s been a struggle, I’m learning to embrace it. Not wholeheartedly but with an understanding that it’s a powerful resource, a tool that can help me be more productive if I learn how to manage it. And, that’s the key. I want to manage it — not let it manage me.

Yet, I miss the days when I mailed letters to various friends through good old fashion snail mail. Those friends are now only 1 — Marlene Adelstein. We’ve been exchanging letters for over 4 decades and though we write less frequently, I’m grateful I have someone who appreciates a letter in the mail. She’s a professional writer — just as busy as everyone, so I appreciate her handwritten letters.

Those who knew me in my performing years thought I was an extrovert, and true, I’m energized by conversations with all kinds of people — but actually, I have many days when I wish to hide under a big hat and slink into a corner reading, writing and drawing pictures. Presenting myself to the public in this manner will always be a bit of a struggle.

A few snap shots from my life in a technology timeframe:

Fax machine: working at a large architect firm there was one fax machine for the whole office. It took 30 minutes for one page to go through, 5 hours for 10 pages to “travel” from Boston to Florida, but we were thrilled and amazed. (A true lesson in patience)

Electric typewriter: what a relief when someone finally invented a typewriter that could self-correct — no more whiteout and retyping. (This invention I was very grateful for as the day job was all about typing.)

Copy machine: at dinner with my sisters and mom I announced about a copy machine at an office I worked at as a temp and it could — copy, staple & collate — 50–100 documents! “Wow — that’s amazing!” they said in unison. The time it saved! (But no more quiet time in the back room compiling documents with a colleague talking and getting to know each other as we worked.)

Is it a blessing and a curse?

I’ll always miss the “pause” we had before all this technology entered our lives, the quiet silence from one action to another. Remember when commercials were a minute long? Now there 10 seconds. I’ve had to re-teach myself how to stop — and quiet my mind.

I remember a cartoon of a young woman surrounded by machines with the caption, “Would I be more valuable if I came with a plug?”

It can get overwhelming, so I try to remember; I manage it — I don’t let it manage me.

How do you handle it?