Nov 10, 2008

Disconnected

Hello !
Sorry for not keeping my blog updated. After the "Toussaint" vacations, I had problems with my internet connection. It's been on and off, mostly off, for a week now and it's getting on my nerves. I know it might sound silly but I just CAN'T be without internet...

Anyway, I'll make it short as I work at least 1 hour to re-connect my computer (luckily, I know more or less where to go and what to do) and just win a few hours of connection.
Speaking of, it's amazing how many women I talked to recently that don't take full advantages of internet. Few examples :
* One just told me (she is a dentist) : "if I just need to hit the reply button, I am fine but don't ask me to send you an email or click on a link"...
* Another said "I wasn't raised with internet, I didn't study with internet, I didn't work with internet. I am 48, my kids know how to use internet and help me if needed so I don't want spend time learning about it".
* Last one, and my guess is that she is in her mid-40's , "I don't understand computer and just can do basics things like starting it, type my notes on Word, check my emails, reply or send and order books trough *Amazon*. For the rest, my kids can help me or do it for me".
I don't judge them but jeez, how can you knowingly put yourself on the side like this ?
Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am idealizing internet but to my opinion, getting to know how to use a great technology as internet is vital. When you see how many things you can do, find and share through the web, you get hooked !

To finish on a special note, one innocent and sincere comment my daughter made during the week-end made me smile and I still think about it. We were grocery shopping like almost everyone in France on Saturday (lunch time is less crowded). At the cash register, we had a very nice lady. She was pleasant and had a beautiful smile. She even talked while scanning our articles with my daughter. For American people, this won't sound so special but in France, grown-ups don't talk with kids. I don't know why but I suppose it's because they are just kids. When we lived in the US, everybody was talking to my kids in grocery stores, from baby to kindergartener ! And they liked it !
Anyway, when we left the cash register, my daughter told me " Mommy, she was a very nice lady. Considering the fact that she has *dark skin*, do you think she'll become one day president of France ? ".....

3 comments:

Susan in Lille said...

I totally agree about the internet thing. And that is an interesting thought M brought up...I wonder...

La Belette Rouge said...

Your daughter's question speaks to the astonishing shift in perception. Really lovely.

And, yes, I do think that to leave technology to others to deal with is to miss out on much what is amazing about being alive in this time.

Marie, thank you so much for the lovely comment on my blog. Really lovely to meet you and to discover your lovely blog.

Isabelle said...

What, Marie, no French translation this time?!!! (Just kidding, it must be a pain in the ... to translate all your posts!)