Hello, Operator?

Remember when as kids “telecommunication” meant 2 cans and a string? Today’s tots are more tech savvy at smart phone operation than many adults. I readily admit my 9 year old grandson is more adept with his tablet functions than I am with mine.

Communications has changed so drastically over the course of a generation. There are 2 former telephone operators living in my building. BOTH were of the “plug and cord connection era” and I am not speaking of a new plug and play device to load on your laptop. I imagine them more as the fictional “Sarah,” of Mayberry fame…you remember, the operator Sheriff Andy was always asking to connect him to the sheriff’s office or maybe Aunt Bea—or the satirical “Ernestine” with her snorts of laughter and witty remarks form “Laugh In” fame. Yes, things have changed.

Speaking with both of these women recently I discovered, one had the distinction of being the final operator to ask, “Number please” before the final switch to automation arrived in this small town. The other had been an operator in Ft Worth. She shared her account of working the switchboard the day President Kennedy was assassinated. It was a day she will never forget. Even with the added trunk line designated to the presidential entourage the operators could not keep up with the call demands that day and the days that followed.

These women, and others like them, were the backbone of all spoken information exchanges. They were the calm voice when a harried first time dad dialed O for operator and announced, “My wife is having a baby!” The voice of information before there was an “Information Super Highway”—a term now nearly archaic. If you were looking for someone and didn’t know the phone number you simply dialed the operator and asked for the information. Later, the 4-1-1 designator, saved a step in the process as the answering operator asked for the city and state you were calling and redirected the call.

We live in an increasingly impersonal society. Call just about any major company and the first auto-answer directs you to choose the language you prefer the auto prompts to spout. It’s frustrating to get caught in an auto response loop making it impossible to resolve your issue. Recently I made a call and nearly dropped the phone when a “live” operator answered. I shared my enthusiasm with her and she laughed…”I get that a lot”

Technology has improved many things…made our lives easier. Yet, I can’t help but wonder if we have done ourselves a disservice by removing the human factor. I will admit I need people around me at times but I’m just a guilty of fading into oblivion staring at my phone or tablet reading comments made. And yep, some of those are from friends living in my building and only an elevator ride away. Guess I will have to add some face time to my “To Do List” which, incidentally is located in my smart phone. I’m a work in progress traveling on this journey.

The Doldrums of Starting Over…and what follows.

It seems to have become a recurring situation in my life—this starting over. I’ve grown accustomed to expecting new avenues and experiences around every turn. After many years of dealing with the same things every day…same routines, etc. I am enjoying the diversity change brings.

In the midst of a new beginning at the moment—just waiting for the pieces to all fit together. Time manages to stand still one minute and race ahead at the next. As I ponder where the next adventure will lead I find my life is at a dead calm stop. Sailors sailing on the ocean have experienced this phenomena. It’s a scientific condition called the doldrums—mesmerizing in the sheer calmness of wind, water and waves. Skyline and water becoming one as thought processes fade to oblivion in the smooth as glass surface of the deep. It is peaceful, hypnotic. I could easily see myself becoming lulled into inactivity. Not to worry as there always seems to be one area or another of my existence that screams for attention.

This week it is the area of finance that has called my attention—more precisely banking. We have all had struggles from time to time perhaps in securing funds from a lending institute. I have been trying, unsuccessfully to make long distance deposits into my account. One would imagine with the current economy that banks would want your money, right? That they might go out of their way to assist in getting funds IN to their financial facility. Not so for one Florida financial corporation—which shall remain nameless.

A month ago I began my efforts to deposit funds in my bank—I was assured by my personal banker that being in Texas would make “no difference at all”… The banker went on to explain the mobile app that would allow me to make a deposit from anywhere by using my smart phone. Sounds too good to be true—it was. I was informed the first 2 checks could not be deposited until I met a time requirement. Check number 3 was declined because the app could not be downloaded to work on a negative balance—which occurred in service fees while waiting to get checks 1 & 2 in to the account. After mailing the check—which oddly enough originated in Florida, to the bank effectively fixed that problem. All criteria met check 4 was dutifully endorsed and photographed ready to be deposited in my account. ERROR followed error. One bank representative claimed ONLY personal checks could be deposited in this manner. Another suggested it was a lighting error that I should try snapping the photo OUTSIDE in sunlight. (That one resulted in not only another error but the wind caught the document and blew it into a locked fence around the motels swimming pool.)

Once more I called tech support and shared my woeful tale—which had become more of an I Love Lucy-esque caper sans Ethel. The lovely bank representative, Jessica, got the whole story. The more I shared the harder I laughed at the sheer magnitude of apparent ineptitude of my efforts. Fortunately she laughed as well—in fact I think I made her day! There was little else to do.

The final verdict on why my check could not be deposited…yes, much thanks to Jessica for solving the mystery. The check was printed with a small ($) sign in the field with the numeric amount of the check. The software for verifying the check amount understood it as another character in the total. It failed to match up to the printed amount of the check value and as a result could never be deposited using the app.

Moral of the story…when your smart phone isn’t smart enough the best thing to do is laugh. It will make you feel better than crying and you may end up with a great story to share on the next part of your journey. Live loving the journey my friends.

Smart Phones and Diminishing Intellect

For some time now I have felt the technology of a smart phone was in fact making us less intelligent. Einstein is quoted as making a similar prediction when he said:

“I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots.”

I no longer learn phone numbers—I just hit the SAVE to contacts function on the phone. To relay a request or make an inquiry of someone instead of calling I simply text them—a friends mother unable to text herself is known to call a text-ing family member and ask them to text someone for her. If I am waiting for an email I don’t need to be at or even near my laptop—my smart phone will alert me to all incoming mail. No coupon clipping just flash your e-coupon at the register. Need a way to store your schedule? It will do so and even remind you of those appointments. I have information at my fingertips and a built in GPS (which my followers will realize is lost on me.)

A friend dropped her phone and was frantically trying to recover the lost data—her new smart phone is now sporting a colorful, protective case much like the colorful bike helmet my granddaughter wears to protect her head while cycling. There is even a service where one can upload their information so it is always retrievable.

However recently I discovered my smart phone could not only anticipant my next text and prompt me in the spelling—it could even determine when I needed a break. It seems in connecting me with friends, family and others in an instant, it decided I had too much on my mind and curtailed all incoming data. And it was correct!

After a particularly difficult day and a barrage of text messages that frazzled the mind we both shut down. It was possible to initiate communication—but no returning comments were delivered. Two days went by before I realized I was not receiving any messages, emails or texts. With two days to regroup my thoughts and overcome my anxiety I began the task of restoring functionality to my smart phone. Several calls to tech support and hours of manually deleting data from the phone finally saw my phone in working order.

It was a mystery to the tech support team as to how it happened—smart phones are smart enough to warn you when you are getting close to the limits. The best hypothesis was that the marathon of flying messages, emails and updates that were being received by the phone rapidly exceeded the internal memory of the device. Thus causing a failure in storing anything. In fact it was so low on memory that it couldn’t even convey the message telling me it was full.

My theory is that a greater power than the smart phone decided I was on overload and simply allowed the phone to glitch in order for me to have time to mend. Once rested my mind focused on only those things that needed resolving—choosing to respond to a small percentage of the 60+ missed messages. Rebooting the device once all the extraneous information was deleted was a quick and easy fix.

If only it was as easy to repair individuals. While the downtime proved beneficial it is impossible to fully delete those things that are at odds within us. The harsh words spoken, the misunderstandings, the toll of grief and disappointment can’t be erased by a good nights sleep. Time has a way of softening the wounds but the scars remain. Just like the shards of my friends shattered smart phone in so many pieces. Relationships are not so easily replaced.