I woke up as usual at five o'clock this morning. Actually, that's not true, Madison was inbetween Amy and me and kicked my groin about quarter to five. I woke up.
I took my shower as usual though. I prepared for my day with all of the same toiletry rituals that we all come to possess. Then I put toothpaste on my relatively new toothbrush, one of those ORAL-B action motor ones, that twirl and make you "brush like a dentist" as the ad says.
I flicked the on swith and went to put it in my mouth. It didn't start. I pushed at the battery compartment and smacked it a couple of times. Nothing. I couldn't possibly be out of batteries yet. I just got it last week. I don't have any more batteries. What am I going to do? How am I going to brush my teeth?
I actually said to myself, "How am I going to brush my teeth?" I stood there for a moment before I realized that it doesn't have to hum with power. It doesn't have to be a battery-operated toothbrush to work properly. I have been brushing my teeth for thirty years with a regular old toothbrush. They had no buttons. They had no "fresh from the dentist" guarantee.
I couldn't believe myself. Is this the same thing when the cable goes out and we ask ourselves, "What do we do now?" When the microwave is on the fritz, do we say, "How am I going to cook this?" When today's internet or computer is slow, why do we huff at the monitor like a whipping boy?
We are becoming technology dependent. We don't know how the machines work or don't care just as long as they do work. (Paraphrasing The Matrix Reloaded here.) I, for one, couldn't imagine being a teacher without the internet as my net. I have found so much online that helps me, from worksheets to tests to whole lesson plans.
Sometimes it is for the better. If I start thinking about brushing my teeth manually, I don't think I would ever be able to "go to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately...to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."
Maybe Thoreau was more tuned in than I thought.
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