More Reasons Not Everything Sucks These Days
Like most boomers I know, I spend a lot of time complaining (whining?) about the burdens of modern life, starting with technology. Trying to see the glass half full, I made a conscious effort to find the silver lining.
After writing here that Not Everything Sucks These Days, I realized there were even more small miracles I hadn’t acknowledged in that story. Here they are:
Voicemail. It has been an absolute lifesaver countless times when I’ve needed to reach someone with an important message but they were not answering their phone, whether landline or cell. (Sometimes I’d get that aggravating busy signal because their phone was just slightly off the hook.) I remember times when after desperately trying to get through, our only recourse, if they were local, was to drive to their home and knock on the door — or ask someone who lived closer to do it.
Cutting/pasting. Young people think of such simple tasks symbolically in a document, but those of us who remember the pre-computer days have all too vivid memories of doing just that (personally, I preferred Scotch tape but some might have used Elmer’s Glue). Moving a sentence or two meant retyping and attaching it to the page; even a revised paragraph was tedious but doable.
But oh, what a pain it was, to reorganize and move a page or two. As a copyeditor, I recall renumbering pages as 77, 78, 78a, 78b, 79…
FaceTiming (or WhatsApping or Zooming or whatever). If we ever needed those options, it was during the height of COVID when we went weeks without seeing local friends and many months without seeing family and friends in another state.
GPS. Speaking as someone with a history of developmental topographical disorientation (yes it’s a real thing), I love my GPS. If it’s a boon for most people, it’s downright liberating for someone like me who gets lost regularly.
Microwaving. I’ve never been one to actually cook something in a microwave, but reheating or defrosting in a hurry is more than a convenience. It’s a menu changer — if not a life changer. Ah, yes, all those dinners of salads and pasta (not that there’s anything wrong with pasta) as we wistfully said, “If only we’d remembered to defrost the …”
Wheelie luggage. Oh dear, I recall my post-college 1969 summer in Europe with the wheels strapped on my suitcase. They were great in airports. On cobblestoned streets everywhere I went? Not so good. Every few yards or so, the wheels would get caught and come off. My travel companions would wonder where I was till they spied me half a block back strapping the wheels back on.
Permanent press. I’m old enough to remember when people ironed bed linens (I think we can all agree that that was crazy). But for clothing, it’s a godsend. Who wants to pull out the iron and ironing board to touch up a very wrinkled blouse or skirt to wear to work?
So, I’m not saying I’m going to stop whining about life — and surely not about technology — but I think I’m going to try to appreciate how these “little things” do improve our quality of life on a day-to-day basis.