Life Moments column
By Christine Bryant
I realized the other day just how old school I still am.
I was making an appointment and asked the receptionist to hold while I checked my calendar.
It was almost a line right out of the “Golden Girls” or any other 1980s TV show when one of the characters, acting like she is so busy when she’s anything but, checks her book.
I’m sure to the receptionist on the other end, it didn’t make her think twice. But for me, “checking my calendar” almost made me stop in my tracks, wondering how many other people out there are like me – still using the paper world rather than our electronics to keep track of daily life events.
For Christmas, I got my husband an Amazon Echo Dot. He’s a gadget-kind-of-guy. Any new items that come out, he wants to try them. He repeatedly says how he was born way before his time.
I always remind him that, even if he were born 2,000 years down the road, he probably would feel he was born way before his time. Flying cars will one day look vintage, just as the calendar hanging on my wall does compared to the one that can be updated across multiple platforms with one touch of a phone screen.
One of the features of the Echo is that you can create a grocery list using it. You simply say, “Alexa, add milk to my shopping list.” Then when it’s time to get your list together, Alexa will read it back to you – or even better, order what you need for you if you don’t feel like heading to the store.
I can’t help myself, though. I love paper. I love writing down my shopping list. I love Post-It notes. I love calendars – both the ones that hang on the wall and planners. I love blank notebooks – I write down thoughts, lists, recipes, reporter notes, pretty much anything in them.
It doesn’t stop there.
I have a ton of photo albums. Most people I know only print out the photos that mean the most to them. The rest of their photos are on jump drives or in a cloud somewhere in cyberspace.
While I back all my photos up that way, they’re pretty much all printed out as well – either in an album or sitting in a pile ready to be put in an album.
I prefer books you hold in your hand versus ones you read on a tablet, as well as browsing bookstores rather than shopping online – though during the Christmas season, that goes out the window.
I’ve tried changing my ways – and I think over time I have. I used to write my stories by hand before typing them into a Word document. If that doesn’t offer proof, I don’t know what will.
I’m OK with not changing, not keeping up with the times. I notice more, like the detailing on the paper I’m writing on, or how in just a few days, there’s an important event I can’t forget.
I’ll still embrace Alexa, but will always champion my stack of neon colored Post-It notes that sit nearby.
Christine Bryant is a Messenger staff writer and columnist.
