There are so many ‘toys’ to play with.... cell phones, smartphones, computers, tablets and a host of other interesting and intriguing electronics.
I have never been one to have to have something because it’s the in thing, or just because everyone else does. Truthfully, I don’t like change. Just ask my husband. My thought is... if it’s not broken..don’t fix it..don’t change it!
Years ago, my son was in a pigua [terror attack] on the Ben Yehuda pedestrian walkway in Jerusalem. B”H he wasn’t physically injured but suffered from shock.
Being only 17 years old, he was too scared to go to the hospital and instead wanted to phone us and come home. He told the police he will go with his parents. Being in his shock, he couldn’t remember our phone number.
The next day, we bought a cell phone. It was a big and bulky Motorola. I told my son, he wasn’t to leave home without it. I convinced myself that I bought him a phone not as a luxury but as a necessity for security. Within a couple of weeks my husband decided he also wanted a cell phone.
Next came the computer. “What did we need it for”, I told my family [my son and husband really wanted one]. “We aren’t running a business. Just to play, it’s an expensive toy”.
Several months after saying no, no, no we don’t need it...my mother a”H passed away and she left money and instructions for her grandchildren. The older boys received money to buy computers and the girls wedding dresses. [I wonder how she knew about computers] The married grandchildren received cash.
Okay, so now we were on the search for the best deal on computers...Believe me, it was the blind being taken...we knew nothing about computers... We learned as we shopped. Living in Gush Etzion, a fellow from Efrat was recommended to us. He sold us everything but the kitchen sink....
We were hooked on the computer very quickly. We still didn’t have internet, so we bought some discs and we just played..... Our Kibbutz grandchildren and their friends would come over to play a game or two, we were the most popular grandparents on the kibbutz.
It took another year before we became really ‘modern’ and hooked up to internet. Just thinking how naïve we were. We were amazed at email and chats. Our first bill was over 1200 shekels. I thought my husband was going to burst....We couldn’t understand why it was so expensive....until a very nice lady at Bezeq told us about WOW, a new program Bezeq was offering, to cut the cost of internet. Our bill dropped drastically. So now we were really ‘modern’, cell phones, computer, internet..what would be next for us?
We traded in our bulky cell phone for three slim, tiny LG phones. Just a plain phone, no camera, no sms, just a phone. You see, by then, I too wanted a cell phone... This phone was so tiny, it fit in the palm of my hand.
We signed a three year contract, and when the contract ran out we once again joined the ‘modern age’ and bought three Nokia cell phones with cameras and SMS availability.
I remember how much fun I had snapping everything in sight and sending SMS to my children. As far as I was concerned it did everything I needed but make coffee.
Now on the market, plain Jane cell phones have been replaced with Smartphones. I think they can make coffee....We didn’t buy a Smart phone, we are still using our ‘dumb phone’.
Last week, we really became ‘modern’ when we bought two tablets. A new electronic store had just opened in Netivot and was selling a 7 inch tablet for 330 shekels. A great deal.
My husband and I were back in the ‘stone age’, not knowing what to do with it or why we needed it. We bought the tablet because our daughter had one and she couldn’t stop talking about how great it was and how it gave you an extra computer in the house. It took our son a couple of hours to figure out how to use and then he taught us.
So what’s next for us ‘old folks’... I can’t imagine, but then again, I couldn’t ever imagine we would have cell phones, a computer, and now a tablet....[My husband said a tablet used to be something you took when you were sick, today we communicate with it.] Go figure!
Electronic ‘toys’ can be a bad thing if misused but can also be a door to new horizons.
Hashem has provided us with the necessary tools to reconnect with our long lost family and friends, to learn through all the shuirim online, to help others who request Tefilia and most important to be grateful for everything we have. Life is good!
Until next time please feel free to comment and share.
Miriam
