Neither my ex-husband Jack nor my good friend Libby has a device to answer their home phones when they’re out. It’s not that I have great occasion to call my ex, but I do like to check in with Libby every now and then. When I do I realize how attached most of us have become to our technology gadgets
I don’t consider myself particularly technologically savvy, but I do have an answering machine for my land line, a cell phone, an iPod, and a PALM Pilot. I don’t have a Blackberry or a car that is also a telephone and dials a number automatically. But my friend Peg does!
I’ve been trying to reach Libby for five days, calling every night in the hope of catching her at home. I’ve come to the conclusion that either she must be out of town or has a very active social life. Since she’s an octogenarian, I suspect the former.
I’ve talked with Libby about her aversion to answering machines; but she says people know that if she’s home she picks up the phone. And if it rings an inordinate number of times, then she’s just not there. She has little interest in discovering who calls in her absence; as a consequence, we all call back without her making any effort to track us down. I begin to see the logic.
She doesn’t have a cell phone or an iPod or a computer either; rather she listens to music on the radio and writes copious, detailed letters on some sort of fancy typewriter. She uses an old-fashioned tape recorder, one the size of a toaster. She doesn’t own a car. While technology might have passed her by, it is with her blessing.
This is not to say Libby is stuck in some middle twentieth century. What’s certainly twenty-first century is her mind, her interest in others, her continuing to grow regardless of age. She is intelligent, analytical, and thoughtful. And that’s what I like best about her. Even if I have to call several nights in a row to get in touch.
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