Yelp Pandora, Spotify, someone help me clarify.
Pinterest,
Foursquare, please end this nightmare.
If
you’re over a certain age say 60, there is an excellent chance you’ve never
heard of the Internet applications I just referenced. If you have, by some
chance, heard of them you are probably only vaguely aware of their purposes. I
heard a speech Saturday about the circle of life and how the time comes when
you are no longer standing center stage in your personal world. The spotlight
is moving (as it should) to your children, younger co-workers, even
grandchildren.
In
generations past it was harder perhaps, to detect the signs that the universe’s
stage manager was trying, gently at first, to help that generation’s elders to exit
stage left gracefully. The signs weren’t as obvious then as they are now.
Change happened at a relative snail’s pace. And St Peter’s admonition “likewise
ye younger submit yourselves to the elder,” was still taken seriously.
Today, thanks
in large part to the Internet and mobile applications, change happens so
quickly that we are in a constant race to keep up, keep abreast and for some,
stay ahead of the curve. When we are young the race is exhilarating. We are
bursting with energy, we are eager to learn, have ideas to churn, we’re ready
to earn. Mistakes? No fear. We have time to burn.
But time
and the relentless torrent of alternating fortune and reversal wear on us. Don’t
misunderstand; it isn’t that our knees squawk every time we stand up. That our
eyes struggle to see the not so fine print, that the volume knob on our car
radio is shocked by the setting we now demand. No, these are not the signs that
whisper, “The spotlight now belongs to the younger ones.” We have more energy
than you might imagine. There is plenty of curiosity too, cat be damned.
What’s
different then? I believe it’s the chilling realization that hits us at a
certain age; the sense that time really is very precious. I have noticed this
with good friends. I hear a lot of wistful comments, tinged with a mixture of
regret and a grudging sign of acceptance. It’s a well worn path, gingerly trod
by the aging who took the journey before us.
Young people have voracious
appetites for the new and different. Older
people wake up one day and realize they must choose.
Do we stay tuned to the endless
loop of the latest and the greatest; the Bachelor’s pick, the next American
Idol, the latest must have app for our iPhone 5? What’s happening in North
Korea, Iran, and Pakistan? Are you keeping up with global warming, the economy
and the fiscal cliff? We aren’t weary in the physical sense, not yet. But now,
the time seems right to narrow down our interests to subjects –and tasks useful
to us and those around us.
Communication technology is
changing the world in fundamental ways in the same manner that
industrialization changed the world. The changes are happening much faster this
time.
When Billy Joel sang “We didn’t
start the fire” listing 100 headlines between 1949 and 1989, it was perhaps, a prescient
message. Yet, I wonder how many people born in 1989, could identify the people
or events Mr. Joel referenced in his song. For that matter have they ever even
heard the song? How many know who Billy Joel is? The good news is of course,
anyone who wants to grasp the references can simply Google them.
Funny thing is Billy could write
an updated version beginning in 1989. His song could easily run twice as long. In
case he’s interested, I‘ve given him a head start.
Yelp Pandora, Spotify, someone
help me clarify.
Pinterest,
Foursquare please end this nightmare.
The fire is just starting.
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