A week never goes by without me being remindd how much this world has changed in my lifteime. Gracious, when I first got my driver's license turn-blinkers were a new thing, automaitc transmission was a luxury option, and there were only a few hundred miles of interstate highways in the whole country.
Now that I think on it, if I'd been writing this back then, I wouldn't do so on this laptop; I wouldn't even be doing so with a ballpoint pen, neither of those were available. (Are you old enough to remember those archaic fountain pens?)
Back then, when I wanted to deposit my check, I went to the bank, a bank where the teller knew my name and where I didn't have to produce identification to retrieve my own money because that teller identified me. She knew I was Charlie's little boy. (I bet if I saw her today she'd still identify me as Charlie's little boy.) Back then I couldn't take a picture of my paycheck on my smartphone then click on “Deposit” and instantly receive a message “Deposit Successful.” In fact, back then I actually used checks; I didn't bank online. There was no online.
When I got my driver's license, I didn't drive to school. When I told my Daddy I needed a car so I could drive to school, he told me he agreed and I should get a job to earn enough money to buy one. Truth is, I really didn't mind riding the school bus, everybody did. What I hated was toting those school books to the bus stop a half mile away from home. Today, I'm still toting books around. In fact, I always carry hundreds of thousands of them. I was born too long ago to understand how it works, but all those books are now on my digital reader and/or smart phone.
At this point in this offering you should be grasping the fact this old parson embraces technology. I love it. I love it so much I no longer have a television. I have discovered I can watch ninety percent of the TV programs I like to watch on one of my technological devices. You, dear relic, have to watch your favorite program at home the night it's scheduled. I watch it when I want wherever I am. I can even watch a movie while devouring gourmet delights at the Waffle House.
There is one relic from that ancient age in which I was raised I do miss. I miss maps, paper maps. I miss trying to fold them back up. I miss trying to find the spot I'm currently occupying on the paper in order to devise a route to that place I hope to occupy. Now, the Google Maps and the GPS devices I use today are really great. My GPS tells me how to get from here to there, what time I'm going to get there, how fast I'm going, and even beeps when I come within range of a traffic video camera. My phone is a little more simple, but it, too, can show me on a map where I am at the current time. It can mark a route on the screen. Amazing!
But all these technological map devices have one draw back. Everyone of them shows me being at the center of everything. And neither I nor you, dear reader, are the center of all things.
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