Is Technology Making Us Soft?

 

Have we grown too soft? Are we relying more and more on the easy way of doing things and then couching that as convenience?

I was in line at my local hamburger drive-through when this thought never failed to run through my mind. It’s called drive-through for a reason, idiot; convenience. Don't order twenty-plus dollars worth of food, then hold up the line waiting for it to be prepared and packaged so you don’t have to walk inside to place your order like regular folks. It’s inconsiderate and negates the idea of “convenience!” Convenient for them, maybe, but not the poor schmuck (me) waiting two cars back just to order a simple burger and fries. They, on the other hand, want that and then some.

Forgive my rant, but this, along with irresponsibility, is one of my pet peeves. 

Now, of course, I can’t say that other mitigating circumstances may have prevented them from going inside. I can’t know that for sure. All I know is when bag after bag of food is being passed to them from the drive-through window, and there is only one person in the car—yeah, I can at least think that.

Laziness is lost on the unsuspecting. It masquerades as “convenience.” 

I believe that technology and convenience have made us soft as a society. I say this because it’s become too easy to obtain things and lay about without effort. For instance, technology has advanced to the point where all we have to do is speak into the television remote to change a channel. We don't need keys to start a car. All we do is press a button or let the car parallel park itself. Standard shift is obsolete these days. From no-iron clothing to slip-on tennis shoes (trainers for you Brits), minimal effort is required for today’s living. Air Frying is the rage, and microwave ovens are hardly ever used for cooking, just heating leftovers or making popcorn.

A few years ago, someone asked if the future would be very different than how we live today. If much would change. The answer was—no, not much. We’ll still have houses and cars, much like today, but technology will advance so much so that how we live-in or use them will change. I, for one, live in what’s called a Smart Home, where the thermostat only turns on if it senses me in the room. Although, I have to wave at it every now and then just to let it know I’m still alive. It seems that’s the only way it will commence heating or cooling my house. Ugh!

Just the other day, I spoke to my mother, who told me that her home health care worker didn’t know how to wring a mop correctly. I had to explain that now we have mops that don’t require wringing, such as the Swiffer brands, mops with handles that wring themselves, or ones that are placed in a bucket that twists and squeezes the mop for you. In her day and at her age, this is unheard of.

I understand. I wonder how it would turn out if Mom tried asking her to count change back—never mind.  

The point I’m trying to make is that we can’t allow ourselves to forget how important it is to exercise our brains and bodies. Thanks to environmental factors and other things, in-home gyms,  exercise equipment, yoga, and Pilates classes are on the rise. We try to stay healthy that way. We must because house and yard work is something we pay to have done instead of doing it ourselves. Such is life in today’s world and our everyday work week.

I get it.

But we can’t let ourselves get too “soft” in the head, mind, and spirit. Americans are considered a nation of overweight and malleable people, and I suppose that is true for the most part, although I like the word resilient better. But I think the world might be catching up to us, or at least figured out how not to live when “convenience” invades their homes.

In my opinion, we need to get and remain strong. Walk the extra mile, take the stairs instead of the elevator, calculate in our heads and not on our computers, think for ourselves, and not allow others to think for us or tell us what to do. Convenience is nice. Advancement in technology is wonderful. After all, we must move forward into the “future of tomorrow”—and all that jazz.

Just let’s not get too soft in the process, huh?

 

~DaMarie

Photo Courtesy of Michael Dziedzic