It's time to talk about my addiction. I am addicted to technology. I know, I know, it sounds dumb but I need to make some confessions about this little problem I have and how I am going to deal with it.
First off, I am addicted to my phone. With my significant other living 70 miles away, we rely on our phones to keep in contact. I admit, I sleep with my phone by the bed with the ringer turned on so that I can hear my early morning text. I also confess to sitting in my car in the driveway after work so that I can spend that 10 minutes on the phone with him without any interruption that would occur if I were to walk in the house.
I am addicted to facebook. Why oh why do I care what 778 other people are up to? The truth is, I don't. I think I use facebook as an excuse to escape boredom, and with nights like tonight, (stupid graveyard shift) it may be the only entertainment to keep me conscious. Anyway, now my rant about facebook.
Things I like about it:
1. Seeing pictures of my family
2. Being able to remember a persons name from high school because I just saw your picture or status from some random thing.
3. Knowing something has happened in my community that I was unaware of.
4. Feeling like I am part of something
Things I hate about facebook:
1. People who use facebook for PDA. I can't stand the mushy status "oh I love so and so and blah blah blah I copied this status because my fill-in-the-blank is the most amazing blah blah blah" and copy and paste this if you love so and so...
Puke. If you love someone, tell them. Don't post it for your 800 random people to see. We know you are capable of saying I love you. Say it to that person.
I know you are proud of your husband, wife, sister, brother, child, niece, nephew, grand kid, etc., but once again... don't copy and paste some ridiculous status about how you love them. Call them. Go to their house and say it. Do an act of service for them. Let THEM know.
Ok, done with that one.
2. Ignorance. I can't stand it when people copy and paste or post something they know nothing about. For instance, today someone posted a video that was taken from someone else's wall. This video contained a young woman on a bus. It was a cell phone video of this girl and there was a young girl who was trying to interact with the young woman. Well, this young woman was obviously experiencing some sort of problem. The video was posted as "a junkie on the bus". As a nurse (and a human being) what I saw was not some junkie on a bus! I saw a young woman experiencing an "altered mental status" (which may or may not have been drug related) who needed to be taken to a hospital! Someone took the time to make a video and post it, but who offered to help that poor girl? Another person piped in and jumped on the "don't judge her" bandwagon, saying maybe it was a mental illness or disease that made her act like that. I could have jumped through my computer! If your medical condition makes you topple over on an bus with your eyes wide open then you should not go into public without a caregiver. Call me inconsiderate, mean, or whatever you want, but this particular video got me mad!
Ok, moving on.
So how do I deal with my issues? I am going to take a "technology fast". I saw an article online (gasp!) and also heard about it on the news. I think it's just the ticket for me. So, tomorrow after I finally get my lazy bum out of bed, I am going to turn my ringer off and not answer any texts, calls or facebook messages for 24 hours. Of course I will answer if my Hannah calls, but everyone else, too bad.
Let's see how it goes!
