Over the last few months, there has been a bit of a recurring theme. Most of it was true, albeit a bit tounge-in-cheek, but true. We've all lost our damn minds and here's how: We have become a people of Lost Temperament.
That is my diagnosis and that became more apparent when I watched "A Christmas Story" for the millionth time the other day. Have we really changed that much as a people? Nay, I say. Our needs haven't changed, just our temperament. We are now a people that are impatient, ill mannered and inattentive. The culprit? TECHNOLOGY!
Think about it. Watch "A Christmas story" or something very similar. Now, think about how nice and uncluttered we were back then. Take the Christmas season as an example. There were no gift cards, no WII/Playstation/Xbox, no cellphones/smartphones, no email/internet, etc... And yet, if you ask me, if given the chance, I'd go back to those times in a heartbeat. Simplicity. 20 years ago, what was on your Christmas list?
The way I see it, technology has made us a people that, if we don't see results now, that is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Rush, rush, rush(remember when that word actually meant something and not some inflamed hemorrhoid's name?). We have Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Blackberry, Droid and Treos. We have the aforementioned game systems, laptops/netbooks, all with high speed internet. When something doesn't download fast enough, you lose your damn mind don't you? Admit it, you do.
But doesn't this mean we are different then we were then? Didn't 9-11 change us? Nah, we had our share of paranoia. Remember some paranoid dipshit named McCarthy? Back then it was Communism(still is to some becktards). Today it's Muslims(actually it's fundamentally radical Islam hijacked by extremists, you know, like Christianity is with John Hagee...even though he hasn't killed anyone...yet).
We are a people(mostly this country) of mass consumption. That isn't new either nor is demand. We are seeing the peak hit and the repercussions of this behavior. Anyone lost yet?
Tell you what, this post is VERY scattered and was intended as such. If I really wanted to put everything I wanted here, it would be too long of a post and I don't dedicate that kind of time to my post posts, I don't have that kind of time or patience(wink, wink).
This post was meant to serve as some food for thought as we reach the end of this year. The main point is that we haven't changed, just our behaviors/temperament. Think about that next time you hear a "new" song on satelitte radio or see a "new" flick in IMAX theaters. Nothing is new, just our behaviors/temperamant...our interpretaions. Look carefully through this post. If you don't see a "book in the works" worth of information here, then you may be a victim of what I just posted on...or an idiot.
I am the Complaint Department Manager and I approve this scattered thoughts post.
8 comments:
C you would have to go back long before you were born to the Good 'ole Days, the 5o's and the 60's, even the 70's. It was great, have your parents tell you about it, they probably have tons of times huh!! I remember tv before 'the clicker', you sat on the floor right next to the tv if you were a habitual changer like my husband, and our first 'game' was Atari. yup, the good ole days......
I've often though that technology hasn't made anyone any happier. In some ways it makes us dumber. It's like the time my husband and I wanted to order a pizza and he was frantically searching his Blackberry for the number of the pizza place, and pissed when he couldn't find it. I just pulled out the phone book and there it was!
I'm laughing at the term "Becktards"!
If only the Cave Man had not invented the club, there would be no war. Damn technology!! ;-)
Sorry, C, but when I don't want to be disturbed by my technology, I simply turn it off.
Even if the caveman had not invented the club, he'd have come up with some other way to inflict pain on people that pissed him off. But you're right - I didn't have a phone of any kind until 1982 when my mother finally decided to join the rest of the human race. I didn't have a color TV until I started working and decided to treat the family to one in '86. But did I feel deprived? No. We just made do. Nobody does that anymore. You save your money and you make do. Damn disposable society. So caught up in the convenience of things we don't even think about the consequences. We're all doomed!!
another thing before we were technically advanced is that there wasn't any F*&K*NG music when we went to a webpage!
Quick, get me some valium
ok some adavan,
ok some nyquill.
just something to stop the music!
Of all of those that commented, Jeff is smellin' what I'm cookin'. Thers's just something about this day and age of entitlement that really makes me feel like we're all headed in the wrong direction, but I don't think we're doomed. If anything, we'll just go through the years limping along until we all get it...or at least the majority.
Again, the amount of information and conversation that could come from these random thoughts and talking points could fill a book and then some.
My goal is to now slow things down on as many fronts as possible. In fact, by the time I actually do get out of college, I'll be walking across the stage with 3 degrees if everything goes right.
Sue - Actually, I'm going back further than that. Can you imagine a household today with nothing more than a Westinghouse radio for entertainment?
Disordered cook - You did actually get the "Technology making people happy?" thing. Couldn't agree more. Becktards...damn! What can you say other than just that about those poor bastards.
TomCat - If only everyone could use restraint. I'm not disturbed by the tech, just disturbed at the behaior of others who embrace it without a second thought or idea as to what to do if it should fail them in any way, not to mention the lack of persona that goes with it.
Jeff - Thanks for getting close to what I was hinting at. There's more...OH, there's more. So much so that when I started this post, I became overwhelmed with thoughts, oh my.
Old fart bus - Christmas is over, so be's the tunes. I have some Vicatin we can share that I got from an internet talkshow guy, that had WAY too much to begin with, so he's sharing, shhhh.
If it weren't for technology my son would be unable to hear, and he would have died last spring. I like technology. :-)
I hear you C. It's not the tech. It's the irresponsibility of thise who use it. Being disabled my activities are limited. It gives me both a voice to and a window on the world.
Happy New Year to you and all here.
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