norman
country-financial
March 28, 2024 6:20 pm
Your hometown Newspaper since 1987.
Search
Close this search box.

OPEN FORUM

Where Does The Time Go?

By Esther Ramos


More than one person has graciously informed me that I could save myself SO much time if I’d only learn to use the computer and the internet and the e-mail and the etc. etc. etc….

I know everyone means well and they believe that what they are telling me is true. In their own lives they do banking and shopping and bill paying and visiting with “friends” over the cyber-space, and they believe this saves them valuable time, that can then be used for other necessary projects. That must be nice.

In theory, they should have enough extra empty time left at the end of the week to take a nice long undisturbed bubble bath, or to go have a picnic down at the lake or to see a show at Tuacahn with their families. So do they? Not a lot. So where did their saved time go?

No matter how we try, our brains can only do one thing at a time. We try to multi-task and that’s all well and good, as long as we don’t try to mix the wrong subjects. Doing laundry and vacuuming and writing a shopping list while being on hold with the insurance company can all be done at once because one can go seamlessly from one to the other and back again. But in our frantic attempt to save even more time, we end up driving and phoning and writing directions down which cannot really be mixed very well.

Most of the “computerized” people that I know are the the ones that do lots of multi-tasking in many areas. So they should have even more extra time. But do they? Not that I can see.

Here’s the problem I have. I enjoy doing my business face-to-face; speaking person-to-person. I like people. I realized how much I enjoyed this when I began to have my utilities directly taken out of my account instead of going in to pay them. I was cross-country truck driving at that time, so it was convenient. But then I began to see these people I knew from the utilites, at the store, at the Credit Union, or at Wally’s and I realized that I actually missed these folks. I used to visit them ever so briefly while paying my bill every month. But I hardly even see them anymore.

All the convenience of not having to have an actual conversation with a real person is forever going to be lost on me. I want to see the smile on your face when I speak to you. (Or the frown.)

I enjoy the fact that when I go to the store, it can easily become a social occasion. And if a business has a need to correspond with me, I want it in writing, so if we ever have a difference of opinion at any time, all of our traffic has a paper trail, so I can prove my point; I don’t want a recording for this.

I don’t wish to cast aspersions on those of you who enjoy your life out there in cyber and beyond. Not at all. I want to conduct my correspondence on a short tether. I will write checks to pay my bills and to buy my groceries. I will keep track of my account closely enough that if one of my checks is “scrubbed” for use as an instrument to take all of my funds, I’ll be aware of it before much time goes by. I will be sure to take care of my credit card receipts from purchases so they are in my hands only. I will not be putting my credit card numbers or my banking information or my date of birth or my social security number on any portion of the internet period.

I could be wrong, but I believe that if I don’t put it out there, they cannot take it from me. I don’t know what thinking person would ever want to be me if they didn’t have to be, however, the identities of some pretty strange individuals have been stolen lately. They won’t get mine.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to trudge along in my own way as de-mechanized as possible, in my standard-shift pick-up in which I have to reach over and physically roll the windows down, (just one short step away from Fred Flinstone), as I first-grade-print out my letters to the newspaper with a ball-point pen from the doctor’s office, while you guys just leave me in the dust as you go zooming ahead further into cyber space. I’ll see you at the store in line behind me.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

Comment on this story. Send a letter to the editor by email, click here: EMAIL US

Print This Article:

Share This Article:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Screen Shot 2023-02-05 at 10.55.46 PM
2-21-2024-fullpagefair
4 Youth Service WEB
2-28-2024 WEB Hole Foods St Patricks
No data was found
2023 WEB BANNER 2 DEFAULT AD whitneyswater
Mesquite Works Web Ad 10-2020
Scroll to Top
Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Get notified about new articles