24th
Internet and Impact
I was one of the unfortunate kids whose parents didn’t hop aboard the web train until I was in high school (no matter how much I begged, reasoned or pouted). So I was stuck in the dark ages for five years or more after MSN instant messager became HUGE in fourth grade. And then I had to wrestle my brother for the keyboard, a tug-of-war which soon came to resemble preschool before naptimeand I believe included a timer. 30 minutes was all you got, so choose your time wisely. Perhaps this is why I am indifferent to the web phenomon. I subconsciously feel if I try to have the best technology, I’m going to have to wrestle someone for it. I guess I feel, having gone down that road, it’s not worth it.
When the phone guy FINALLY installed dial-up (which my parents still use) when I was a freshman in high school, every kid my age was already bored with the net. This was before YouTube and Facebook, so there was a finite amount of diversions on the web before something that seemed strangely like homework or learning thrust its ugly face on the browser window.
This was new to me, however, so I chatted my little fingers out. Helped my poor typing to no end, but not a lot of homework got done. And the person I chatted to? The one person who might have been bored on the Internet but was not bored with me was, (duh, teenage girl here!) a BOY. And that BOY and I have now been dating five years (despite a brief pause between freshman year and a reaquaintance junior year).
So, unwittingly, the Internet has changed my life. In fact, it’s impacted every hour of every day. So though I am indifferent to it, perhaps I should be thankful.
