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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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Because We Can
At 2 a.m. I heard the sound of talking. I thought my bedroom radio was on, but there were no lights shining from it. Then I decided the voices must be coming from the next apartment, but they weren't. Following the sound, I discovered that I hadn't turned off my stereo system before going to sleep. I pressed the remote control, went back to bed, and thought nothing more of the incident...until the next night. By the fourth repetition of this ritual, I realized that something was making the stereo come on in the middle of the night. After an hour of reading the manual and pushing buttons on the remote control, I solved the problem. It was clear that my life had become complicated. Operating remote controls is not the only complicated task we face. Just when you think you've mastered a home or office computer, you discover that it is obsolete and begin receiving messages about software upgrades and advertisements for newer operating systems. Mechanics need special equipment and training in order to navigate the numerous computer systems encountered while performing even the simplest car maintenance. My home telephone service has 17 types of calling features from call forwarding to selective call rejection, each with its own activation and deactivation codes. I understand that nothing in the world is certain except change, and that progress is inevitable. Still, I wonder what ever happened to keeping things simple. A simple on/off switch on my stereo without requiring a remote control would have prevented me from losing sleep four nights in a row and having to read my owner's manual at two o'clock in the morning. I guess I'm turning into one of those old fogies that I scoffed in my youth, but perhaps they were right after all. Just because we can doesn't mean that we should.
© 2003 David Bentley David Bentley, M.Ed. & Personal Coach, coaches clients through the game of life, helping them find balance, clarity of direction, and purpose in an ever-changing world. You may contact him at 360.378.8436 by e-mail at david@coachbentley.com or visit his Web site: www.coachbentley.com |
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