No phone, no Internet, no problem … gulp
SUBURBAN CHRONICLES
I was recently pulled over while cruising on the information superhighway. Out of the metaphorical police car stepped my 10-yearold daughter, complete with reflective police officer shades and slapping a night stick menacingly against her palm.
“Daddy,” she said. “I want you off the Internet for an entire day.”
I work at home quite a bit these days, telecommuting so I can juggle my employment responsibilities with my family ones, so my kids are used to seeing me glued to the computer.
I also carry my phone pretty much everywhere I go and they have become accustomed to the halting interactions that result when I’m talking to them while checking my email and the universal, single-digit signal for “Daddy will be off the phone in a second.”
It’s not just work. I use my home computer, iPad and phone for most of my reading, listening and time-wasting pleasure as well. Sometimes it’s procrastination — a.k.a. the creative process — but most of the time I’m doing something constructive like looking at things I’ll never be able to afford, or the latest YouTube sensation.
Of course, it wasn’t always this way. My first computer — a gleaming white Commodore Vic20 — arrived when I was 12 and was used for playing Moon Patrol and writing wickedly simplistic basic code:
10 Print “My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof ” 20 Goto 10 RUN My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
My friend Kevin Brennan is a nerdy goof
Even my first email address was used primarily for getting David Letterman’s Top Ten list delivered daily and not much more. Computers didn’t really become anything other than an amusing sideshow until somewhere in my early 20s, and an essential part of daily living until much more recently.
Still, my kids perceive me as some sort of Internet addict and so it seemed like a reasonable request to unplug for a day. The terms were simple: no laptop, phone or iPad.
I wouldn’t say no surfing was hard, but it sure was weird. Instead of reading the news on the web with my morning coffee, I read an actual newspaper. I worked out, built some Lego stuff with my kids, made some pulled pork in the slow cooker.
I will admit, however, that I had the occasional pang of panic: With the phone off, what was I missing? Despite being a constant tether to my working life, I actually like staying connected because it gives me peace of mind: The constant beep is less stressful than the anxiety of not knowing what’s happening.
At the stroke of midnight, my web purgatory came to an end, but I think I’ll unplug a little more often. As much as I love the warm embrace of constant information, it can be a little smothering at times. Plus, my kids are clearly concerned about my digital habits: When I finally refired my devices, I found this email from my daughter waiting for me. “My Daddy is a nerdy goof.”
When permitted by his children, Drew Edwards sometimes uses his phone to tweet at @drew_edwards.