Technology Scares Me

Everyone who knows me understands that I don't always "get" technology. As a child of the 80's I tend to externalize blame and why should this be any exception. Therefore I find my science teachers (roughly from the years 1984-1996) culpable. I have discovered in recent years that I find science incredibly fascinating. How the world works, from evolution to medicine, is infinitely interesting. I thought all of those years I hated science; not true. Having said all that, I'm still not clear on the difference between neutrons and electrons or fission and fusion.

When my friend Ben showed me his new iPhone, what with its wireless internet access, music storage capability, and primary function to communicate with others via speaking, all I could say was, "Gee, that's pretty cool."

I'm not sure from whence my fear of technology truly stems. Despite the aforementioned dearth of quality science instructors, I can't in good conscience deflect all blame. I was, though, able to exact some measure of revenge yesterday with a daily bodily function. While on the phone with Time Warner, attempting to figure out why the cable was out in the bedroom (it turns out you need to actually plug in the cable from the wall for the unit to work), I was subjected to one of my least favorite forms of modern technology--the automated voice response system. While listening to the options, I inadvertently interrupted the system with a sneeze, to which I heard the following: "I heard you say, 'Customer service representative.' If this is correct, press one."

I fell asleep last night with a contented air, confident that the world isn't yet passing me by.