Despite being born into one of the most technologically advanced generations, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing when it comes to technology.
Whether it’s a computer, cell phone or even an ancient iPod touch, I somehow manage to break everything, wipe out entire systems and accidentally delete five page essays on a regular basis.
Despite my overwhelming cluelessness, I ironically love technology.
Currently, my main forms are an iPhone 6s and a Dell laptop. While I won’t say I’m obsessed with them, I do cherish the homes of my various articles, phone numbers and pictures and def freak out a little bit when I drop them (which happens way more than I’d like to admit!) but, before this past week, I would have probably told you I could live without them if it was absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that technology often sucks more than it shines.
At the beginning of this week, after studying for a philosophy exam until the wee hours of the morning, I wanted nothing more than to climb into bed, set my alarm for the next morning and sleep my sorrows away.
My phone had other plans though because, at the very moment I was about to shut my eyes and drift off into a beautiful state of sleeping bliss, my phone shut off and would simply not turn back on again.
So, I sat there in my sleepy state for an additional hour and 45 minutes waiting for my precious piece of junk phone to get its act together.
The drama doesn’t stop there though.
A few days later, after finishing six assignments, yes, you heard me correctly, SIX assignments, my computer began blinking on and off to no avail, forcing me to stay up until 2 a.m. with several of my tech-savvy friends trying to figure out the issue.
The reason I mention these two major inconveniences is because, when they happened, I nearly had a full-blown breakdown.
The thought of living my life sans these two objects made me want to cry and stomp my feet in protest, not just because I was afraid of losing all the papers and worksheets I’d worked so hard on, but because I honestly could not picture going day in and day out without a cell phone and computer to fall back on.
These days, people rely so heavily on technology it is hard to imagine a time where it wasn’t as prominent.
While what happened to me isn’t an everyday occurrence, I hear horror stories about final projects being lost or computers randomly shutting down during the last question of an important online quiz all because of the unreliability of technology.
We never know when it is going to fail us or screw up our week, but we still love it for some reason.
After my week of numerous technology fails, I realized that these two tiny pieces of metal (and probably some other things I can’t pronounce) were consuming my thoughts and time to the point of ridiculousness.
There are so many more important things in life than texting and snapchatting constantly and people need to start realizing that.
So, after I finish typing this and all my other assignments up, I will close my laptop, put it away and enjoy the moment I am in now because that is all that matters.
