Growing up in Louisa – Networking!
Weekly feature . . . by Mike Coburn
My, my, how things have changed. When we were but sweet little muffins and still the delight of our mother’s eye, our method of communication consisted of our making some kind of a noise to get attention. That might constitute a scream, loud crying, throwing an out and out ‘hissy-fit,’ or in finding mom distracted by other ‘more important’ things, we reached up and yanked on mom’s apron, or dress, while repeating ‘mom, mom,’ over and over. Often the adults ignored those first attempts, but we kept up our demands until finally, like Popeye, they could “stands no more.” Bless our little hearts. If we weren’t wacked on the bottom for the behavior, we got the attention we craved. We were loved, after all.
As we grew up and matured we found new, more inventive ways to get attention and to share our messages with those around us. Whether we tried the ‘soft approach’ by cajoling, or sweetly prodding, or performing an outright act of anarchy and rebellion, our need to be heard became more and more urgent. It’s still that way to one degree or another, even with married couples. With growing children any actions that may be taken as ‘Acting out,’ a popular phrase used by parents, educators, counselors, and other authorities, can lead to repercussions. Regardless, it all just simply means the same thing; “LISTEN TO ME!” Over the years little has really changed, but our resources to grab attention certainly have. There are those who believe that even mass-murderers and terrorists are just trying to get the world’s attention.
Recently, I watched a rerun of an Andy Griffith Show wherein Andy’s girlfriend, Helen, wanted Andy to interfere in the Town Clerk’s, Howard Sprague’s, dating life. When Andy balked at the idea, Helen gave Andy the ‘silent treatment.’ This is an action that no man can long withstand. He got the message and relented, only to later get himself into trouble with Howard’s mother. So not everything meant to grab attention requires increased decibels to work. We men know when to surrender when we are given the ‘EVIL EYE,’ or ‘The LOOK.’
Our social resources grew when we turned to an invention that introduced us to what has become a rapidly changing adventure. It began with a relatively simple mechanical device, a rudimentary telephone. My introduction to this was an oak box attached to the wall in the front hallway. It looked like the picture to the left.
Telephones opened up a whole new world to our parents and for us when we could finally reach the device. For the first time in the history of mankind we could actually speak to persons that were miles away. No drums, no smoke signals, or flashing mirrors or lights were needed. Sometimes, the quality wasn’t particularly good, and ‘long-distance’ came at an extra cost, but as a message center they were a Godsend. We suddenly had the means to call in grocery orders, to find out if our friends were home, and to call for help in the event of an emergency. Wow!
As we continued to grow older we found the phone was also a good way to visit with our friends. Of course, more and more those friends were of the opposite sex, so the nature of our conversations changed. Yes, love finds a way. For many of our rural friends those telephone visits were shared by anyone along the line that would care to listen. Party lines were very common and incidences of letting secrets out to the world were common. If the barn was on fire, or someone was sick, people would break in the conversation and ask, or demand, to be given the line for an important call. Jokes are made about party-line experiences, but few people today can even imagine those circumstances.
I remember in a movie with Jimmy Stewart, North by Northwest, where the main character had to urgently call someone. Finding a payphone was difficult and time consuming. The tension grew as time clicked by and the circumstances worsened. Phones just weren’t common in those early days. Some people had them, some didn’t. Smaller communities often shared a single phone, either at the general store, or in the rich guy’s house. Payphones are all but extinct now, but they were common in our day. We no longer have to crank the phone and hear the operator say, “Number, please?”
I laugh a little every time I get messages that a line may not be secure, or that my email can be read by others. Security in communication is a constant worry and has even become a political issue. Many little kids today are walking around with their heads bent over these new devices that allow so much more than a phone conversation. They open up the whole world to their young eyes. That very much includes the bad with the good, and has set up some serious problems. We hear of sexting or cyber-bullying, and wonder what sicko has reached our sons or daughters. Kids now easily see things I didn’t see until very late in life, or maybe things I still haven’t seen. The temptations confronting young people are a constant worry.
I’m glad we have the web and the means to communicate with each other. I enjoy writing for this electronic ‘newspaper,’ and ‘talking’ with you through email and texting. The cost, in some ways, is less and much broader and faster than anything we knew, but some of the social costs may come at a very high price. For example, in WWII spies had to plant listening devices and stake out persons of interest. Now, they hack into private servers and discover it all. Even nations are accused of ‘hacking’ into election processes, secret governmental, or personal information.
The problem being that we may be ‘too connected.’ There is a now an ‘Internet of things’ which essentially means machines talk to machines. The light bulb tells the refrigerator that it is about to run out. If everything is talking, nothing is private. Back to party lines on steroids.
We also know more about who shot who, or who had an affair. We actually see wars instead of reading about them days later. At some point all of this becomes a kind of pollution, which can be overwhelming. We used to wonder about the state of the community, but now we know details about people all around the world. When something happens, copycats pop up and new trends begin. Terrorists grow stronger and recruit people who ‘buy into’ their message of evil. Once we had a few people mad over a miscarriage of justice, but now the whole nation reacts with riots and marches. Man is still in the same state he was when he threw that first ‘hissy fit,’ but has more reason now to ‘act out.’ These things that are happening, always happened, the difference being they are more broadly reported.
Because I have worked nearly all my life in the public sector, I have seen changes in how public safety ‘two-way’ radios have changed, too. When I was a kid sitting on my porch reading comic books, the great detective Dick Tracy used a wrist-watch that had a TV picture and was a radio/phone. That was impossible technology in those days, but not anymore. It’s likely you have something like that in you hand.
Way back in the old days, Sheriff Jordan and Deputy Bernard Nelson may have had a two-way radio in their cars, but frankly reception would have been poor and the likelihood of anyone being at the other end was slim, I suspect. Today, police have one attached to their shoulders and another in the car. Technology changed from a simple broadcast, to simulcast, and now 800 Mega Hertz, a tool that has serious coverage. Firemen can now talk to each other from inside burning buildings and ask the battalion chief outside to send help, or certain tools.
So whether a kid pulls on mom’s skirt, or we have our memories of talking on a wall phone, or maybe using a push-button, or dial phone, or maybe even having a car phone, most of us now have a hand-held in our pocket. We now frequently send email or texts, we can Skype, or have video conference calls, and the only common denominator is us. Our children are busy playing electronic games, ‘talking’ to friends by texting, finding answers to every question, and in some cases, making poor choices of internet friends and/or behaviors.
I use these new methods to download manuals that show me how to make repairs, to buy tickets to events, or determine if a price offered for an item is fair, or even to order fast food ahead of my arrival so I don’t have to wait. Everyone is downloading new aps for checking weather, renewing DMV registrations, or making appointments with doctors, dentists, or to have nails done. We can check the weather all over the world, watch ballgames, invest our money, buy most anything we need, and keep in touch with family and friends.
Some argue that we know ‘too much’ and may need to consider if the social media is overdone or maybe, even harmful. I saw a message the other day on Facebook where a person I know wrote that it had taken an hour to get ready to run out to the store. Really? The world needed to know that? Maybe we all waste hours doing things that don’t matter? Some to avoid real work, to stay entertained, or just to feel connected. I admire those who take on-line college courses to build a better future, and to create new sources of income. It’s different for each of us. At least we have the right to choose.
The scariest part isn’t the world of technology that abounds all around us. It’s the dependence upon systems. Hacking is the real threat when foreign powers can access our servers and take them down. The electrical grid that feeds the internet can go dark in microseconds. Generators will keep some alive, but we will nonetheless be thrown into the dark ages. Think about it: airplanes can’t land or take off, rockets cannot be launched, news will be suppressed, traffic lights will go dark, telephone reception will disappear, and communication between ‘things,’ will stop. Banks will close, and so will fast food outlets.
Cyber security has become a most important element in our new electronic age. That means we will instantly be thrown back to our grandfather’s day. Some of us will remember how to ‘make things’ and to cook on an open fire, but our children won’t have a clue. That’s the value of memories and of teaching the ‘old ways. Boy scouts will not be prepared without having to learn to draw from nature.
What a time we live in! I guess we should not panic, but enjoy the benefits of the good things. We can hope that security teams will help us avoid the bad things, but I think we ought to also find ways to escape and ignore the ‘noise’ of technological pollution, and remember some ‘how it was’ way back then. History is of no use unless we take lessons from it to apply to new situations. Oh, and just maybe, we could ‘relearn’ how to leave the phone at home and stop posting everything we do on electronic media. A little less dependence on technology will help us deal with the real issues of life. Being in touch is nice, but living on the web leads to false securities and dependencies.
