Nostalgia

Nostalgia brings you back to a time where things were different, and we usually feel they were better. Midnight in Paris, the new Woody Allen film, stars Owen Wilson’s character who, at first, believes that Paris in the 20s was a better time. He gains criticisms from his fiancé, her parents, and some friends of his. In the end, he concludes that we all look back at previous periods of time with optimism and disdain on our own present time. We are great at misconstruing the past to make it seem happier, brighter, where candy bars only cost a nickel.

In these days, we give the subject of nostalgia a slightly different meaning. In this case, nostalgia is directed to a time where technology was either not imperative or even completely nonexistent. We look back at the time where kids played outside, parents spoke to their children at the table, and eye contact was made throughout the day- without interruptions of phone calls, distractions from computers, and without wires hanging from ears to drown out the sound of everyday life. We look back and say, these times were better. But were they really better?

I’m not so sure reading a book at a playground is much different than texting on your blackberry at a playground- both cases are distracting you from watching your child!! But the direction this world is changing in, technology is growing in distraction. It’s becoming more interesting to lose yourself in than just a fascinating novel. Should we deem those who get sucked in the technological distraction as “bad parents”? Pretty sure it is a lot more complicated than that.

In one case, the X Family attends their son’s basketball games. Many times, during one of the kid’s basketball games, the little sister plays on her Kindle instead of watching the game. If it weren’t for her Kindle, she would still be equally distracted reading a book or playing with other friends, which she does as well. She’s seven, so that’s okay. The parents, much older than seven, always neglect phone calls to watch their son play games, but mostly because missing something, like a shot, would seem like missing out on an important priority, their son and his self esteem.

Their mother works a lot and is at the top of her particular company. She stays home to work, and the children are just starting to understand how important her job is. The mother’s motive, when she is home, is to get work done and that is all. She likes the luxury and convenience of staying at home, but it is clear in her mind that she has things to take care of. It is a bonus that in between conference calls, she can squeeze in a question of, “How was your day,” or “How did you do on your math test?” Also, being able to see her kids a little, rather than being completely alienated from them at the actual office, is a plus. She neglects her phone during dinner, and it doesn’t seem to really faze her.

It wasn’t until recently I noticed withdrawal symptoms when she was away from her technology. Her new computer crashed with some important documents on it. She not only had to get them recovered, she also had to send her computer away to get fixed. It was miserable for her. The computer wasn’t just a source for work, it was how she spent her leisure time. Instead of taking her kids to try on clothing or buy new shoes, she simply orders them online. The kids are always checking the doorstep for new packages. She really knows how to online shop. The kids get anxious when something is ordered and it doesn’t come in right away. They are so use to instant gratification these days.

Anyway, after her computer crashed, she talked about her computer with me, how she missed it, how she couldn’t do anything without it. We spoke of it at the table before I went home. (We never really talk for more than a few minutes- with eye contact anyway.) Because she didn’t have her computer, we could talk about places to travel to, her children and the funny things they say, as well as life stories from the past. These things almost never happen. It was nice. She even asked to borrow Macbook to browse through vacation rentals and destinations. In all, there was more human connection and great conversation. So maybe she wasn’t physically shaking without her pc, but you could definitely tell she was behaving differently. 

Thanks for reading!