Technology is making me stupid.
I was at my place of worship this morning and I was next in line at the check-out.
That's right. I was at Target.
I was picking up a few groceries for my parents and paying with my secret card! when I realized the stylus for the electronic screen wasn't working.
I stared at my helpful Target employee with a blank, pitiful look.
"Oh, the pen's not working," she reported.
I continued staring. I wasn't sure what to do. I started to hand her my card because I thought she would have to put the numbers in manually.
After a few more beats of silence, she looked back at me and offered, "You could try using your finger."
Touche.
I punched in my info on the screen, muttered something about common sense and then excused myself as quickly as possible.
Now, I could be wrong about this... but I'm pretty sure I used to be smart. I mean, not like 4.0 GPA, advanced calculus, defending my dissertation smart, but at least I was "don't touch the bright orange thingy in the oven because it might be hot" smart.
Technology has taken that from me.
Does this mean that I'll take a sabbatical from the internet or boycott my cell phone?
Well, no.
But I might do some long division or read a little Keats before I send my next text.
So, perhaps starting with, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty..."
And followed up with, "She is such a whore. Tell her to kindly eat my poo."
Yes, I think Keats would be proud.
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23 comments:
yeah something around those lines happen to me everyday.
Like this afternoon I was talking to someone about my fall class schedule and said "morning to... young afternoon. What's that word?" then after a minute or so, "Oh yeah, earlier not younger!"
technology steals brains.
PS. I just saw Bright Star, based on Keats life, and it was pretty good! The entire movie reminded me of reading a poem, as in, I thought it was really pretty but was pretty sure I was missing something about its meaning the whole time.
whoa, long comment.
Not the only thing technology has taken from us. A great post, I had to smile.
use your finger,...hummm,....
u make me laugh,... and tech and people equal evil,...just sayin
Technology has made us a bunch of lab rats! There's a system and we don't know what to do if it's different from how we were trained.
Our Target got new swiping machines. Because I frequent Target so often I said "These are new" and the lady was like "Yeah" and gave me a look of this girl needs to stop coming to Target. haha. Sometimes my finger doesn't work either.
I always feel like I have to dip my hand in a vat of Purell after I use touch screen thingies. - G
I hate that when you're caught off guard by non-working stupid tech stuff and you're all, UHHHHHHHH, and surely you have a vacant stare and a little drool coming out of the side of your mouth.
It's embarrassing, I tell ya.
Okay, no.
This just confuses me.
Because at my Target I try to use my finger every time and it doesn't work.
I HAVE to use the stylus.
Weird.
Hold the phone.
I can blame the interwebs for making me dumber when I no longer have this sleep deprivation excuse? Awesome. Now I can finally get some rest without losing my excuse.
Girl, I hope to be one of those people defending my dissertation in a few years, and for the life of me I don't know how to add punctuation to texts on my phone. Or do a lot of other techy things, like use power point.
I think you're justified in not thinking to use your finger. I thought the stylus was specially made for the purpose, and my pudgy little digit - not!
I hate the card swipey things. Somehow I always manage to press the wring button or accidentally ask for cash back and the cashier always looks at me like I'm an idiot.
Which, perhaps, I am. But she doesn't need to look at me like it.
I just can no longer spell without spellcheck and autocorrect. And life doesn't come with those features.
I also hate how I have to answer a 20 minute survey every time I use my debit card - and Target is one of the guilty offenders. Just let me enter my pin and go.
I'll be in charge of all of your stylus needs when we are in the Bahamas.
I've found that your finger doesn't work nearly as well as a stylus though. Especially if you have to sign the little screen. She should have given you a ballpoint pen and you could have used the non-pen end. That's what I would have done if I were a Target employee.
Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work.
Not only is technology making me dumber I think it's also given me a raging case of ADD. Stupid technology.
Popped in to say hi!
I'm very anti-technology, even though I'm married to an IT engineer!
I tried to take a sabbatical from technology/social media for 24 hours. I lasted 8 and considered that a success.
i'm here to follow. we follow way too many of the same blogs for me not to love you.
just make sure you mass text us all something intelligent dangit!
The tech-ruled world is definitely making us dumber. I read an article about how GPS is eliminating our ability to orient ourselves. On the other hand, I was about to rephrase that sentence, but dictionary.com let me know my instincts were correct, and I was not about to write "our ability to -the countries of asia- ourselves."
No no no.. You're thinking about this the wrong way! You didn't think to use your finger because you're not a simpleton, Dear. Your mind is constantly working on a higher plaine, possibly solving the problems of the world... you just don't stop to stoop to the more common levels of consciencness .. now if I could spell, that would have sounded great!
This makes me think of the time someone's signature was actually written on that screen. I imagine an older lady pulling out her pen from her check book and signing the screen and walking off only to leave the Target employee to wonder what to do then.
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