On Becoming That Person I Used to Hate...

Yep, it's true...I was a hater at one point in my life. A few experiences with the young women have triggered this realization. (Nothing like spending time with teenage girls to make you realize how out of date you really are.) I was attempting to create a mass emailing list to make contacting the group much easier on myself. Much better than calling them all one by one. Also, because we don't have a home phone, I was trying to find a way to preserve my precious minutes--not that I'm ever in danger of going over, but I just don't want to even come close to worrying about it. So, in asking the girls what their email addresses were, I learned that I'm totally out of the loop. Here are some of the responses I got, "Well, I have an email address, but I never check it. Can you just text me?" Or, "Umm...I don't have email, but I have facebook. You could facebook me." These responses were frustrating, well, because 1) at the time I didn't have texting on my phone and 2) I don't facebook. So that got me to thinking about whether or not I am really that out of touch with this fast paced world. And from there I started thinking about how annoyed I used to get in high school when I would try to call someone and they didn't even have call-waiting or an answering machine! I mean, the nerve! Didn't they know it was the 20th century and that if they ever expected to stay in touch with people, they should make it a lot easier for people to get a hold of them? Yeah, well...from there it progressed to me being annoyed with people who didn't have email. How else was I supposed to get a mass message out in a matter of minutes with minimal effort? Uggh! Didn't these people know that they were practically ruining my life? Seriously! Well, after reflecting on these past frustrations and the recent conversations with my girls, I began to notice a common theme. Only, this time, the tables had turned and I had become exactly the type of person who used to annoy me to no end. What? Me? A hater has-been who by my old standards should now hate...ME? What's a girl to do? Well, I broke down a got a texting package for my phone and I'll admit, it's been a nice addition for the most part. Still not as convenient as email, but that probably has more to do with my poor proficiency at texting than it does with the technology itself. So, I caved in and caught the texting wave. Well, what about facebook you ask? Nope...I won't go that far. I just can't afford one more thing taking up my time or attention--no matter how convenient it may make staying in touch with others. It would add more distraction than convenience. I'm spread too thin as it is at the moment and so I'm not gonna touch that with a ten-foot pole. As I'm typing this, I can hear excuses that people provided in my high school days for not having call-waiting or an answering machine, and yes, some of them are almost word-for-word what I have said myself in regards to the whole facebook thing. So there you have it...I've become the monster I so fiercely judged in years past. I'm sure you'd all like to hear more about it, but I've gotta get back to finishing this slice of humble pie.