Lasting Relationships and Technology

I have been married for 32 years, and I believed that the challenge of remaining in a relationship (not to mention raising two beautiful daughters) would be the hardest thing I would probably ever have to face.

And then along came the new technologies. First learning to hook up the VCR to the television. Then adding the Nintendo system. Then hooking up the PlayStation without interrupting the television/nintendo/vcr set up. Then came the WII system – with the cable box included, our entertainment area began to look like Mission Control at NASA.

By now of course, we are long overdue to upgrade our television. Now we have moved everything with gaming to a family room which obviously needed to be upgraded immediately to HD, Blu-Ray, and the ability to control our devices from our telephones, work stations, or tablet devices.

I always envisioned myself becoming Ward Cleaver, but I appear to be evolving more towards George Jetson. I was moderately prepared to have children and a wonderful marriage, but the rest of this crap – not so much. As it turns out, no one would ever describe me as Ward Cleaver-like, and George Jetson makes me look technology-wise like the Neanderthal guys in the Geico commercials.

In retrospect, working with new devices and struggling to learn how to interface/operate – especially regarding expectations with both devices and relationships – are fairly similar. You must learn what buttons are probably not going to do anything and which ones can cause harm. Decide which features you need and are important, and let the rest go. Prioritize – there is nothing wrong with learning new systems – but you had better be prepared because back up systems usually suck. And from what I have witnessed, 32 years of relationships are virtually impossible to reinstall. The rest of the stuff can blow the hell up for all I care. Best of luck trying to keep up with either one!

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