Technical Life

Technology makes our lives better. It's so easy to keep track of appointments, save our favorite shows when we're not around, pay bills, and stay in touch with friends wherever they live. What did we do before the internet and e-mail? I honestly don't know how I functioned. What did people do before televisions and telephones? It seems as though whenever there's a leap forward, we absorb and accept these things as though they were always with us.

When things go wrong, it can be scary. On Tuesday, I tried to log in to my computer. It didn't recognize my password. I retyped it more slowly. I still couldn't get in. The box on the screen shook angrily each time I entered a word it didn't accept, as though making an offering to a fussy pagan god. I tried typing everything lowercase. I tried all capital letters. I tried my full name. I even tried some of my online identities. If “Whorenelli” worked I probably would have had larger issues. But nothing worked, so the only “logical” conclusion was that I was fired.

I looked around nervously, trying to think what I could have done in a few short months. Had I spent too much time checking my e-mail or reading news articles in my down time? Sure, I had one or two slow days, but the “feast or famine” work routine I had recognized allowed for that. After three weeks of nonstop work, there's always a day or two before a new assignment hits and I'm churning out work once more. I was only a day away from a big meeting and more work. I've actually been remarkably productive, and in filling out our yearly review form I was surprised how much I'd accomplished in a few short months.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were no security guards, and my boss was doing his own work. Everybody was working, and I'd probably jumped to an illogical conclusion. I restarted my computer, which is the universal solution to most technical glitches, and when I typed in my username and password exactly as I'd done the first time, I got in on the first try.

Obviously, the resources do exist to lock out employees who are undesirable for one reason or another. In the dwindling days of my previous job, one of my friends in the tech department scared me one day by remote accessing my computer and literally locking me out of everything. By this I mean there was an actual giant lock against a black background ominously keeping me from clicking anything. When I called it in, the laughter that answered solved that mystery. More often than not though, technical difficulties are the culprit and I shouldn't jump to the worst conclusion.

On Wednesday, I was reminded how human error and technology of any era can combine. The phone rang, I answered and gave my name, and after a minute a woman began telling me she was calling from the pediatric dermatologist and my wife had called in an appointment for our child. I had to interrupt her and point out that she had a wrong number. It was really weird to hear someone talk about my wife and kid. Obviously, it's not outside the realm of possibility that I won't get a phonecall like that in the future. I've got another six years before I'm as old as my dad was when he got married, and about ten or eleven years before I'm as old as he was when I was born.

Some days though, I just can't imagine how people juggle work and family. I see it all around me. At the end of each day, my boss calls his wife, asks how the kids are doing, and lets her know when he'll be home. They briefly discuss their day and what they're going to have for dinner, and it's really nice to see someone with a good career and good family priorities. Mothers in the office come in late if their kids have doctor's appointments or leave early if they have to pick them up from school. Fathers make it to baseball games and other activities. All these people have a full schedule outside of work, and yet manage to get a lot done within the office. I honestly don't know how they do it. I suppose when the day comes and the life I've been saving for is finally mine, I'll find a way to deal with it. Maybe I miss a show or movie, or spend less time writing. Maybe I'll actually have a real reason to use a vacation day, and I won't schedule them around meetings and deadlines. At my last job, I once put off going to the doctor for what turned out to be a serious ailment, because I didn't want to miss a meeting. But we're all human, and we all have lives. I've always been afraid of losing my job or falling horribly behind. Someday it will be more important to go to my kid's game or be somewhere for my family, and I might have to miss a meeting or get someone to cover for me. Chances are, I won't get fired for that either. People do it all the time.

Our minds are similar to computers, but we're not machines. I was reading an interesting discussion related to the new Terminator series about how we possess necessary safeguards against getting caught in infinite loops. Examples from various science fiction shows were given in which a human outwits a machine by giving it a problem that can't be solved, like calculating Pi to the last digit. A person gets bored or frustrated or tired, and knows when to stop. We have our limits for a reason, and I guess that's how we get away from the technical side of our existence, and have time for the living. I shouldn't worry about the day when I have concerns outside of my job; I should look forward to it.