Carrying on as usual
When I leave for work in the morning, I always take the same
four things from the top of my bureau. I
grab my car keys, my flash drive, my contact lens solution, and my IPhone and
they all get stuffed conveniently into the left front pocket of my pants. Just
for the record, I owned a flip phone until last summer when my wife convinced
me to get a phone upgrade after tranquilizing me with a blow dart similar to
one that Marlin Perkins used on Mutual of
Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and whisking me away to Best Buy to take advantage of
a buy one get one free deal that largely benefited her. I keep my wallet in my right front pocket, a
security habit I developed while living in the city. If I kept my wallet in the left front pocket
with the rest of those things, I would have had to wear a second pair of pants
in order to fit it in.
I leave the house carrying far too many things, but it
wasn’t always that way. Ten short years
ago I would show up at my job with only my keys, my briefcase, and a cup of
coffee. I still jump out of my car
(truck, actually) carrying a computer bag instead of a briefcase and, of
course, my coffee. Getting into the
building where I work was once simple. Now
when I get to the door the simple task of taking my keys out of my pocket has
become a far more complicated endeavor.
When I reach into my pocket, I now have to root around avoiding a phone,
a small container of contact lens solution, and a flash drive equipped with a
lanyard. Invariably, my keys always find
a way to get caught or intertwined with the lanyard resulting in frustration before
I even get through the door which is never a good way to start your morning. There are also certain doors in the building
which require you to use a computerized identification card (also with a
lanyard) in order to get in, leaving you with yet another item to carry.
Driving is another story all together. Coupled with the keys, contact lens solution,
flash drive, and phone, I now have to combat with a wire used to charge my
phone, a wire to charge my GPS, a wire used to listen to music on my phone
(which I never do). My truck also has a
console unit which is equipped to hold no fewer than 8 beverages. I could have a small reception in the front
of my truck if I so desired. The fact
that the powers that be are only now becoming concerned with distracted driving
amazes me. Buzz Aldrin would have
difficulty driving my truck (which happens to have a 5-speed standard
transmission) while trying to manipulate a GPS, a telephone, a cup of coffee,
the actual radio (I prefer the simplicity of AM), not to mention having to
commandeer the shift at the same time. I
have cleared the console storage unit from the old cds that used to be stored
there to make room for the multiple wires and chargers that I carry so I can
put them away when they are not being used.
I was recently told that cds are now a thing of the past (same with my
flash drive), and have also been informed that I should be using my phone to
play music, although I can never truly motivate myself to initiate the process of
connecting all of the wires to make that happen. It is quicker (and to me, easier) to just
push the buttons of my standard old
radio and listen as I always have.
We are far too preoccupied in contemporary society, in some
cases unable to recognize and appreciate the world around us. I relish the simplicity of the early morning,
the sunrise and the cool morning air.
Phones, chargers, wires, flash drives and assorted electronic devices
have become a part of the daily regimen, but to me they are all items better
left behind.
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