Don't get me wrong, I think that modern technology is awesome. To have the ability to video chat and more with friends and relatives thousands of miles away in real time is something that Alexander Graham Bell could only dream about. For a man like Bell, it would be the extreme in science fiction. And let's not forget about Facebook. It gives a pre-geezer like me the opportunity to keep tabs on the grand-kids. It's amazing how much I can find out about them that they will not tell me; please do not tell them - they just might "unfriend" me! Well, all this modern technology is really swell, but can its' use be excessive at times? Are there times when we should "put it down" and take a breather from it? I think so.
At least five times a week I pound out my 5K routine on a tread mill at a local gym.* It never fails that I am usually flanked on both sides by people using their smart phones. Although these folks start out listening to music, the inevitable happens: they receive at least one phone call. Personally, I don't give a hoot about the problems that they are trying to solve with the person at the other end; it's none of my business. Maybe I'm wrong in thinking that exercise also is meant to help a person decompress and relax from life's stress. Getting lost in one's heart rate and respiration becomes a moot point when you bring the office to the gym.
A vacation is supposed to be a time to get away from it all. Taking your smart phone with you to stay "connected" to work and various social media, in my opinion, is not just silly but contrary to what a vacation is supposed to be. A vacation, whether it be an hour at the gym or a month at the beach cannot be a break from your routine if you are still tied to it with a smart phone. You need to relax and unwind, so leave the phone at home where it can ring its' ass off in a desk drawer. It will be there when you return, after you have discovered that it's a good thing to get away from it all. But what the hell, I am a hopeless romantic who likes to lose himself in his own heart rate and respiration.
Copyright @2013 Terry Unger
* Since this post was published, I blew out my knee. I am a candidate for knee replacement. Running is out of the question, but I can bike, and do about 10 miles a day. Now the only people I see using a smart phone are driving automobiles.
