October 21, 2015 by Amy
The case for disconnection
There are days when I think it would be best to live completely off-line. Off the grid. Like a Luddite. In a cave. Fingers in ears screeching “la la laaaaa I can’t heeeeear youuuuu!” Today, through Facebook, Twitter and CNN, I learned the following:
- A road rage incident in New Mexico led to the shooting death of a four-year-old girl.
- A Texas history text book says that slaves immigrated to the United States to be workers on agricultural plantations. Immigration, of course, implying choice, and workers implying payment for services rendered, neither of which is remotely accurate.
- A woman visiting her doctor (in Texas, by the way) was shot when another patient’s gun fell out of a purse and discharged. More proof that more guns is absolutely what we need in this country.
- On a local note: the Mazda dealer that jerked me around apparently does that to all the idiots who buy cars from them. I’m looking at you, Lou Fusz Mazda. Misery does love company (in other words, I’m glad I’m not the only person who made a mistake in purchasing from that dealer), but my blood pressure rocketed up in sympathy for my friend.
The day wasn’t all bad. Apparently the world has decided to go crazy over:
- The new Star Wars movie trailer.
- The fact that today is The Day of the Future in Back to the Future.
Being a fan of both movies, I can get on that wagon.
Facebook also let me know that three years ago today I was in Palm Springs, California hanging out with an amazing group of women photographers, and five years ago today I was in Newport, Rhode Island, on a business trip that gave me downtime to wander and make images. Both are incredible memories that I don’t think of regularly, especially the Newport trip, so I am grateful for the reminder.
I suppose the lesson in all this is that I should accept the good with the bad, and try to focus on the positives. Like funny cat videos available any time I want to see them.
Except for Texas. I’m ready to just let that entire state go. (Can we keep San Antonio and Austin, though? Thanks.)
squirrelsinthedoohickey.com">Diane Holcomb - October 21, 2015 @ 10:29 pm
And I thought my eternal frustration with 1 and 1 Internet was bad (yeah, I’m talking about YOU 1 and 1, and your lousy customer service). Trying to sell me a higher price package every time I call in before I’ve even said what I’m calling about. Convincing me there would be a “team of Word Press experts” to assist me in building my website if I paid for the Pro package, which I did, and then was told there is no such team. WTF?????
But I digress.
Love your blog.
amyzlatic.com">Amy - October 22, 2015 @ 8:38 pm
Thanks, Diane! I think that “customer service” is a misnomer at best in today’s world, and the phrase should just be banned entirely. And replaced by WTF. “Have a problem? Just contact WTF!” Only then would proper expectations be set.