The "Turtle-ing" of America

Our manic dependency upon our electronic devices was brought sharply home when my semi-hysterical granddaughter ran into the house to tell the group gathered in the family room that her cell phone was at the bottom of the pond.   This latest acquisition, just a week old, had all her contacts, her pictures on a chip, her messages , emails, and probably all her hopes and dreams in its slender case…..AAAAAAAHHHHRRRRRRRGGGGGH!!!!           Oh the humanity…..

As I sat watching the drama unfold it occurred to me that there has been a “turtle-ing” of our society.  I’ve created that word to point out that, like the lowly turtle that carries everything he owns in the shell on his back, we have come to do the same thing with our electronic devices.    Every phone number we’ve ever collected….pictures of special events, decorating changes, building progress and other odds and ends.   And let’s not forget our file cabinet of recipes, work information, medication lists and appointments and addresses…..on and on and on.

If you have your iPhone or iPad with you it seems you have your whole family in there too.   I know people who watch their grandchildren grow over SKYPE sessions……parents who keep an eye on their children who are home alone with face time.  One couple I know doesn’t let working in two distant cities prevent them from having lunch “together”.    They chat over their lunches while looking at each other over the internet.

When is the last time you went through a complete day without having someone display an “album” of photos they just happen to have with them?   As you swoosh through their smart phone pages the whole family is on display.  How convenient that  you no longer have to wait for someone to lure you to their home with the promise of a great spaghetti sauce where they just happen to have their vacation photos loaded into six carousels for the old projector when dinner is over.   Today those four thousand fascinating vacation photos just happen to be in his hip pocket as you stopped at the water cooler.

Security systems have advanced to the point that you can “walk” through your home from wherever you are just to check things out….and it’s a great way to keep an eye on Fido, too.   It’s also a smart check in with the babysitter, or grandma when she’s not feeling well.   Camera systems aren’t technically beyond us any longer because they’ve been made so simple to install and operate.   Just like the ancient reptile of the order Testudines, we are now technological turtles carrying our homes with us. 

 I’m just as guilty if not more of “turtle-ing”.   I always have my iPhone on me, and usually my iPad as well.   Every face I love beams at me from the backlit screen, and I can scroll through every phone number I ever used.     These things that mean so much to me could bore another adult human being into semi consciousness in less than fifteen minutes; I keep them to myself unless someone asks to see.   Even back in the low tech days I was not one of those parents who could pull a string of plastic windows filled with school pictures and birthday smiles out of my purse.    I think it’s inhumane to do that to some poor unsuspecting person who happens across your path.     I keep my turtle-ing to myself….but it’s refreshing to know that I can call up the memory and a picture of a wonderful kayak trip to a favorite spot whenever I want to.   I just happen to have forty or fifty of those shots with me at any given time if you’re interested……….

                                                                   LIFE IS GOOD