Words With Baldwin

Dear Neighbors:

I'm sure we've all grown accustomed to the myriad of news stories about celebrities who whine and throw temper tantrums when they don't get their way. You probably heard about Alec Baldwin's "incident" with American Airlines last week. If you didn't, the story is here:

Words with Alec

The point of the story is not that Baldwin made a fool of himself. It's not that he refused to follow instructions on an airplane. I don't even care to mention the fact that flying is no longer an enjoyable means of travel and passengers can't even ask how to turn the damned air off without invoking a flight attendant's evil eye these days. 

The one crucial, sick, twisted, unbelievably juvenile point of Alec Baldwin's hissy fit is that it was all over an app. Seriously. An app called "Words With Friends". 

For those of you who aren't playing it, it's Scrabble that you can play with anyone, anytime. If you don't have friends to play with you, the game will find you some friends.  I've heard about this game for a month, but it never occurred to me to take a look at it. I am, after all, still quite enamored of Angry Birds. Which, by the way, provided updates for the original, Holidays and Rio over the last week. Just what I didn't need (but updated anyway!). 

I tend to forget that those apps people play on their phones will also work on my iPad. So I did the unthinkable today. I downloaded the app and started a game. And a second. And a third. Because sometimes, people don't get back to you right away. I have a game that's been going on for five minutes (because I lost the first one) and a game that's been going on for five hours because my opponent apparently found something better to do. Imagine that! 

Words With Doro

Here's the game I lost. Yes, I realize that it's backwards, but I've no clue how to fix that in Photo Booth. So you'll just have to read backwards. If you're reading my blog, I'm sure you're capable of great feats of reading prowess. 

This app is fun, I'll admit. And when the app yells at me to return because one of my opponents has made a move, I'm now trained in the way of Pavlov to respond immediately.

What was my point? Oh, yeah. I had a point here. Wait...got it! 

Even though Baldwin may have had a point about being made to wait at the gate for so long, he didn't have a right to violate the airline's rules regarding the use of technology. If they were to allow everyone to break out the cell phones while they waited, the flight attendants then would have had to go around and ask everyone to shut them off when they were ready to take off, delaying the process even further. We all know that some people will follow directions the first time, and others will wait until the flight attendant is standing on top of them, giving them the "You're making my job ten times harder than it needs to be" stink eye. 

Why is it, I wonder, that individuals cannot sit for any length of time without breaking out the technology to ease the "boredom"? Hint -- bring a book. One that has been printed on paper. It doesn't break any rules and no one will try to take it away from you. I'm willing to admit that I love technology as much as anyone else. But if it's a no-no, I'll find a book to read, a Sudoku puzzle to solve and a pencil with which to solve it, or I might just sit quietly and ponder on the state of the universe.

Were Baldwin's actions really that unusual? Particularly when...

• While waiting at my dentist's office yesterday, I observed a dentist and the receptionist using cell phones, another employee listening to his iPod, and another receptionist playing games on the computer -- all in full view of patients. 
• I can't remember the last time I went to a movie theater and wasn't annoyed by someone texting or even talking during the movie. 
•  It isn't unusual to have a conversation with a friend in which that friend constantly answers his or her phone in order to "check in" or to text. I hate that, by the way. I don't do that to anyone. If I'm expecting a call that can't wait, I warn my friends ahead of time.
• Even though California requires the use of hands-free devices while driving, I see drivers violating that law every single day. 
• Adults who don't have a Facebook account are often looked at with derision. I tend to look at them with an expression of wonder ("You have real, live friends and family who live near you?").
• I don't know a single adult who doesn't have a cell phone. Ten years ago, it was 50/50.
• I haven't used a landline for 5 years -- except for my modem.
• I consider a computer of some sort to be a necessity, but cable television isn't. 
• I don't know many kids who can tell time using a regular, old fashioned clock. 

This is a clock. 

My students often ask me time-related questions, such as, "How much longer until recess?" and "What time do we go to lunch?". I find it terribly strange that four months into the school year, they still don't know the answer to those questions. Turns out it's because they can't tell time. Everything is digital in their world. If you think that Alec's tantrum was bad, think about the way children are going to see the world when they become adults. 

• They'll beg for the latest smart phone and iPod the way we used to insist upon Levi's, Members Only jackets, Walkmans and Swatches. 
• They may not know how to use a landline or how to dial a phone number that hasn't already been programmed in. 
• Adults will need to know more about technology than they do in order to keep them safe from online predators, cyberbullies, and content that is inappropriate. Currently, kids seem to be able to cover their tracks fairly well. Now that "movies of the week" are relegated to the Hallmark Channel, there's no teachable moment we can use as an opportunity to show them that yes, the Internet is the new part of the neighborhood you're not supposed to go to alone.
• They won't be able to recall a time when people weren't in constant contact with one another. 
• Teaching children proper grammar and spelling will be paramount -- otherwise, they won't be able to recognize that Microsoft Word has no clue about context. 

Adults will not be able to keep children from becoming addicted to technology so long as they, too, are addicted.

I've always thought the best way to decide if I'm addicted to something is to give it up cold turkey and gauge my reaction to its absence in my life. Earlier this year, I gave up soda. I've tried many times and have always gone back to it.  I stopped drinking it in July and, after a few tough weeks, stopped missing it. I had some at Thanksgiving and had no desire to stop at the store on the way home and buy some. I was definitely addicted to it, but now I'm five months FREE. 

I gave up Facebook for a few months at the end of the school year in order to focus on planning lessons, grading papers and writing a novel. I felt a sense of relief the moment I put my account on hold. What I missed most was the ease of communicating with long distance friends and family. I wouldn't say I'm addicted, but I do find it important to have all of that information in one place. Did I mention that my nephew Brandon is now as tall as my brother? They posted a picture of them standing with a level on their heads. How cool is that? E-mail is fine, but we don't always have e-mail length information to share. I also appreciate that my friends pass on news stories I wouldn't know to look for on my own as well as tidbits that either make me smile or make me want to kick some butt on someone's behalf. For me, Facebook is the town square. Addicted? No. Less lonely because of it? Absolutely. 

I tend to forget my cell phone at home when I go to work. I could easily drive home and back during lunch, but I have never felt the need to do so just to pick up my phone. You could say it would be different if I had children or a spouse, but the great thing is that the school where I work...has a phone system. I'm not worried. 

It would be easy to judge Alec Baldwin for his actions, even to write them off as the whims of a spoiled celebrity. I think it's clear that he has a technology addiction and it's no different than most of the population of the U.S. or even most of the world. If you're in college and interested in psychology, may I suggest Technology Addiction as a possible thesis subject? I'm going to guess that in the next five years, we'll need a skyrocketing number of professionals who have been specifically trained to deal with this kind of addiction.

Airlines are going to need to either find a way to accommodate those who can't put their cell phones down or have some sort of alternative entertainment that will distract them for the duration of the flight. 

Movie theaters that offer texting sections will be able to name their own price for admission. 

This isn't what you're being paid to do.

I have no idea how businesses cope with employees whose interactions with customers or clients is interrupted by phone calls or texts. I'd suggest a policy banning such technology from the workroom floor. When employees are engaged in technology-related activity, it appears to me, the customer, as though the employees either don't have enough to do or don't care enough about their jobs to give it 100% of their attention. When I walk into a place of business and find employees on their cell phones, I walk out -- usually. If the business I was handling at the dentist office was delayed because of cell phone use, I would find another dentist. 

Are you addicted to technology?

Maybe, 

D