Fear Of Obsolescence and Tube TV’s
My wife said “honey, I don’t use this TV/VCR any more. Do you suppose you could find some poor person who would like a nice, small, tube TV?“ I thought, “sure thing, homeless people are always looking for a nice tube TV to push around in their shopping cart with all their other possessions.” I went to the local sober living house. A bunch of great guys who lost everything to addiction and are starting over from the ground up. I dropped in on one of their 12-step meetings. “Hey, guys, I’ve got a great little TV with a built-in VCR, it’s a classic. Any takers?” Not a word. Not even a peep from the guy who was working on his first 24-hour chip. Did I feel like a dork or what! Those tubes are obsolete. You can’t pay Goodwill to take them off your hands. They aren’t old enough technology to qualify for antiques. (Oh, that I still had my old Apple II+)
Obsolete
Obsolete
Obsolete
Sometimes I feel like that tube TV. A little obsolete in a rapid-changing world. As I type this, the words make me feel like an old-geezer. Look at my words! as I type this…. Nobody types anymore, they keyboard! You young whippersnappers are just out of control! Yet I-phone is coming out with their 9-G technology phone. It let’s you have “face-time.” That means you actually see each other while you talk. Imagine that in rush hour traffic. With all this great technology, I still have a throw-away No-G-strings-attached basic cell phone. Feeling obsolescent? You bet your G-network technology I do!
What makes the obsolescence go away? Slowing down, sitting down, and having a conversation with my grandson, with my sons, with my wife, with Stephen, the Libertarian uber-liberal cashier at the Homeland grocery store. Conversing is one thing I can do. Taking the time to listen, get caught up in their story, to give them my undivided attention— No mean feat for a guy with a bad case of ADD. Look at the pretty shining things. Oh, sorry, I got distracted. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, —Pausing. Putting my agenda on hold. Savoring the conversation. Really hearing another human being’s experience. Sharing the moment. Not rushing the goodbye. Doing these things makes me feel up-to-the-moment. And, in those moments, obsolescence is out the window, and I have purpose again. I have heard it said that the salient characteristic of the next generation entering the workplace is they will follow the oldest person in the room who will listen to them.
I’m ready.
