So, this last weekend I was feeling pretty meh, with major hayfever and being stuck in a rut I was simply put, a grumpy butt. My dad needed some help on his computer and I was a bit short with him. He forgets what he's doing and stumbles and is by modern day standards, computer illiterate. Probably due to the fact that 80% of his life has been lived without the use of PCs for work and social and commercial gain. But Sunday felt like it was by choice. "There's no point in learning this as it's irrelevant to my life" and "i don't understand this world" are the main statements which arose from the frustration of it all (Even though he does need it for his work ). I was harsh as I felt like he wasn't trying and annoyed because I felt like my teaching was poor. Annoyed because something so easy to me was to him the biggest obstacle. This is a man who can solve maths problems faster in his head than you can type the problem into a calculator. I had to step away and think and realise I was a git and apologise. So why the mental block? When we chat about computers and modern day technology Mum always tells her favourite story of being fired for deleting a whole company's database by mistake. Dad tells of working in a room where the computer was as large as the room itself with physical data cards as memory and from what me and my brother pieced together, his job was acting as external RAM for this gargantuan machine. I feel in their minds every input and operation with a computer is viewed as permanent and important. Even something simple as 'X'ing out of a window is fraught with multiple questions of what just happened and what happens next. Compared, we have a huge safety net with the software and interface and repercussions of our input. There is a huge technological gap between us and there are a multitude of reasons why we're so different but I feel it's mainly due to when we were born. After i helped him out with his work we decided to get some fresh sea air as being stuffed up in the house was no good for anyone on such a beautiful day. We went for a walk down south sea and old Portsmouth where we chatted about everything, girls, jobs, girls the future, girls, holiday to Malta. We walked all the way down to the end of old Portsmouth to the port area overlooking gunwharf and decided to go for a drink in the local there. We ordered (I had a Guinness of course) and chatted. Two seconds later I hear a tinkling and found myself catching a glass that fell from the shelf above the bar. The glass that was pushed onto the shelf by the waiter had broke the support causing the furthest glass back to break free and fall into my hands. Now talk about flukey though I mean *cough* reactions. Perhaps a bit of both because If we walked into that bar 2 seconds before or 2 seconds after I wouldn't have been there to save that glass. This was followed by "did you see that", "wow", "he caught that" - "You should play for the local cricket team!" It all felt miraculous (which is silly cause it was only a glass) yet the convo that followed stirred up some interesting thoughts and emotions. Dad told me after as we sat against the sun outside, that it was my destiny to be there at that moment. The day's events led to that point and by extension the whole universe built up to that point for that moment to pass. That notion is by all accounts very vain but comforting at the same time as it implies my life is out of my hands. Is it all coincidence or are we meant for things? Has someone designed this or is it just the way it is? Do we really have any choice? Was I born into this modern age for a reason? Technology for me is the falling glass but I'm lucky enough to be here on time to catch it where dad is unfortunately two seconds too late. Either way I feel it's my responsibility to make the most of what I have whilst I understand it and perhaps help others to catch the metaphorical glass. DR
jbbartram-illu
izzy806
pixelskylines
discoholicmusic
tangentwithtanner
prguitarman
