No Surprise

It didn't strike me until today -- just now, as a matter of fact -- that my words might have sounded strange. It didn't occur to me that my point of view might have appeared odd given the profession I practice.

We stood there at the counter looking at the newfangled gadgets -- microscopic MP3 players, digital cameras, personal digital assistants. And then we walked over to the wall of software. And I mumbled half to myself half out loud something about how we don't need all that educational software, anyway.

We don't need that stuff, I said. Our kids need to be reading and writing and drawing and playing music. They need to be running around outside.

I didn't strike me until just now that that might have sounded odd coming from the mouth of a software guy. Did it? It shouldn't have, although I bet it could have. But think about it...

Does a plumber expect the kids to play with pipes and valves? Does the carpenter expect wood working tools be available in the classroom? Does the mechanic bemoan the lack of automotive instruction in elementary school? The butcher? The baker? Then why so me?

What I said should have come as no surprise. It's only common sense.

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On Time

Dave Winer writes about time:

When you're young life creeps at a glacial pace. Oh I wish adulthood would finally come, sighs the young person. Youth is wasted on the young, says the old fart.

An image of an old geezer sitting in a rocking chair on a front porch appears, and I understand what he's saying. Rush, rush, rush, that's all young people do, says the old geezer (in an Abe Simpson-like voice). But there's wisdom in the rants of a silly old man. First the old guy's body doesn't rush so well anymore. All the aches and pains. They quiet down if he just sits and watches. Young people don't have those pains. He doesn't remember. But time is rushing by fast enough. Old folk may know how to stop and savor a moment, just hold it, and appreciate it for what it is, without thinking of the future (which old people don't have) or the past (there's more of that all the time).

I'm not really old yet, but I'm not young anymore. I'm one of those inbetweeners. Not just starting, but not finished. January 31. What a weird thought.

I don't know. Doesn't seem like such a weird thought to me. (He says, pushing back in his rocking chair.)

8:06:31 AM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []