A Literary Device …

Next time someone asks in a sarcastic way, why you are ‘always on your device?!’ you can tell them this. And for the purposes of this discussion, I am counting my iPhone and iPad as one device. The phone provides the hotspot for the iPad when I am away from Wi-Fi. I know, I’ve already lost some of you. That’s okay - you’ll catch up.

Every morning, after taking the dog for a walk I have a coffee, and read the news. On my iPad. So, it’s my newspaper. Then I check the weather. It’s a weather station. Then I read my emails. It’s a letter box. It’s my telephone, my diary, my maps, my bank.

It’s also a book, and a library. It’s not just a newspaper, it’s a newspaper archive. It’s an encyclopaedia, always updating.

It’s my shopping mall, my travel agent, my research tool for comparing items I might purchase. It’s my recipe book, and my cooking teacher.

It’s my typewriter, my PR person; the repository of blogs, books and short stories. It’s a camera for movies and stills. It’s a movie player and photo album. It’s my TV, my on-line courses, and a trove of old advertisements you can laugh over.  It’s my phonograph, my choir learning tracks, my book club.

It’s a place I go to for mental health, and emotional health. It’s for Zoom meetings, and Zoom exercise classes. (I’ve yet to be convinced it’s for Zoom choir).

It came to me like a bolt. Imagine lockdown without these ways to keep ourselves from going stir crazy! And yes, some people do need to learn device etiquette. We need to put the darn things away at times and smell the roses. Oh, it’s also my gardening guru.

So the next time that same someone asks you to look up something for them on the device - tell them ‘No. No, I won’t. Look it up yourself. Or get your own device.  But please don’t ask me to teach you how to use it. Oh, awwllright. Bring it here.’