Technology is a Drug

So many people are using technology these days. It has infected society. Even little children are becoming victims, and it has gotten progressively worse over the years. I used to play video games when I was a child but I also played outside. I hardly hear of children playing outside these days. I only hear of them playing Xbox 360 or PS3 sitting in their rooms not having the same interaction I had when I was their age. I'm sure the generation before me could say something similar about me as well. But do six year old kids REALLY need cell phones and iPods?! What would happen if they didn't get one until high school? Or do high school and college students REALLY need laptops or cell phones either? God forbid they live without those things (sarcasm intended). People are so into their technological devices that their relationships with others have gotten weaker. Boys don't walk girls home anymore, they separately drive. Boys don't drive or walk over to a girl's house anymore to hang out and talk because they can just text or talk on the phone. Families don't get NEAR the amount of family time they should because they all have their separate computers, cell phones, video game consoles, etc. Family game nights don't exist anymore. People are ADDICTED to technology. It makes everything so much easier! No more having to walk or bike to the grocery store to get fresh fruits or vegetables. No more playing outside with friends other than on sports teams. No more having to get up off the couch to change the dial on the TV to change the channel. No more having to walk to class when buses can take one to class. Technology makes life so much easier and efficient for people. It allows people to do work in more quantity and more speed. But is the amount of work we do or the amount of money we make determine how good of people we are? Do people even care how good of a person one is anymore? Or do we base success on how much money one makes or one's position in a business? Hmmm.... I suppose my blog has strayed from the title but it's what needs to be said.

Adventure: A Day Without Vision...

Yesterday, I spent the whole day not using any visual correction lenses. I have pretty bad vision without them. My prescription reads -4.75 for both eyes. Spending the day with poor vision helped me realize how much I really depend on my eyes. I could not even see the words "Stop" on the stop sign 10 feet in front of me. I could only distinguish objects by their color, not by their shapes because everything was blurry! Class was hell. I had to look at my classmates' notes in order to follow the lecture. I had to get within 6 inches of my lab to read the instructions. Even though class was bad, the night was shit. Walking in the streets, I had to listen to determine whether cars were moving toward me or stopped. I had no depth perception. I even tried to play soccer with my handicap. I was TERRIBLE! I mistouched the ball. I whiffed it a few times. I often passed it to the opponents because I could not see faces.
Although spending the day without corrective lenses hindered my performance academically and jeopardized my reputation on the soccer field, it was SO worth it. It really got me thinking. How the HELL did I let my vision get this bad? Was it worth it just so I could read in the middle of the night or so I could play video games for hours at a time? Hell no. What would I do if I didn't have corrective lenses? Why am I so dependent on technology to keep me seeing well enough to perform well? People say their cell phones are a "part" of them, but my contacts or glasses are a REAL part of me. I can't do shit without them. I don't even know what to say at the shame I feel for having to depend on technology in order to live. I actually have not thought about this idea since the very first time I got glasses. I have lost sight of the great gift God has given us. I actually CRIED the first day I wore my glasses, but it has become so banal for me that I no longer feel it or care. I actually FEEL the barrier between my eyes and the world. I wish I could see like my brother and could see the world as it's meant to be seen. I used to feel that with glasses, I actually see the world differently than one without glasses does. This whole adventure has reopened my eyes (no pun intended) to why I cried the first day of using lenses. I am sorry to God for letting my eyes get this bad and abusing the gift He gave me. Yet, I will STILL wear lenses because I CANNOT function without them. I cannot function without seeing. I cannot function without technology...

The Church is Now a Market?!

This past weekend, I went to an event called Fall Festival or in Vietnamese, Hoi Cho. This event was a fundraiser for a Vietnamese church and it was held AT the church itself. There were no aspects of the whole event that even had to do with God! I understand wanting to raise money for the church but need it be held at the church itself. Churches are built as places of worship, not as markets to make money. Anyway, I saw plenty of people there, many of whom were so consumed in the festivities and fun that they didn't even seem to care about the purpose of the whole event. Some of the kiosks even sold BEER! AT A CHURCH!!! Men smoked in right in front of others, including children, with no regard for their health. Teenage girls dressed in the skimpiest outfits trying to get boys to talk to them. Teenage boys dressed with their pants halfway to their ankles in wife-beaters with earphones listening to music. I went to see my girlfriend who actually goes to the church and was working as a volunteer. As she was working and my other friends were busy, I just took the time to sit on a bench and observe all the people. People had no regard for others, just pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line to buy a SNOWCONE. Girls hardly wore shorts and wore tank tops that did not cover their cleavage, and keep in mind, these girls are around 13 years old; they don't even HAVE any cleavage!!! All in all, I resent the people of the church for holding its fundraiser at the church itself. I think they should have chosen a different venue rather than having girls in slutty outfits and men smoking and drinking right in FRONT of GOD'S HOUSE! This just shows that people have begun to lose sight of true values and that more and more effort is being exerted to make money even if it means turning God's house into a market. And I'm not trying to bash the whole church or Church itself; I just don't agree with this use of the church as the venue for this event.

Humanchines?!

To what extent is what we call "occupation" or "jobs for pay" still itself without becoming slavery or indentured servitude? In Herman Melville's "The Tartarus of Maids", females are exploited of their physical labor and then also for their sexual organs. They work just so they can live, and they live just to work. Is all this exploitation really worth even living? I know God gave life to all and it should be valued as precious. God wouldn't have wanted women to live just so they could work for cheap salaries and so they could be exploited sexually. This applies to life today as well. Some people just work so they can go home and eat and sleep and then go back to work the next day. Essentially, they are only working to stay alive and improve their company but what's the point if they don't get to enjoy life itself. Life, in most cases, is just a system. One is born, goes to school, gets a job and a family, and grows old. Then HIS offspring do the same, as do THEIR offspring. Hmmmm...so what IS the meaning of life? To have fun? To continuously "improve" the world? I have NO idea but I DO know that I trust God with my life and I know he will do with me what is best.