I am thankful to be a working mother in the modern age. Much of my current life wouldn’t be possible without technology. I work from home about 50% of the time through the miracle of remote access. My job itself wouldn’t exist without the web. I rent movies, renew library books, research recipes and order clothing, books, gifts and stamps online. It’s hard to imagine life before pay-at-the-pump. And my friends and family would question whether I still exist without email. Those are all technological blessings in my life, conveniences I would be loathe to give up.
But my reaction is downright curmudgeonly when I’m confronted with technology that only makes things more complicated and less personal for the end user. Today I went to a doctor’s office that assigned me a card with a barcode which I was instructed to scan to let them know I had checked in. Several minutes later, a computer-prompted message piped up in the waiting room to tell me that it was time for me (actually my patient number) to proceed to Room #2. I was instructed to scan my card once again in the barcode reader inside the room, which pulled up my chart. I then waited in silence for the doctor to come in, who entered my info into the database after he evaluated me.
You have got to be kidding me! An environment that is supposed to be dedicated to personal care without a personal touch?! I’m sure this new system will make their lives much more convenient, but it literally reduced me to a number. The advantage? To move more patients in and out of the office in a shorter amount of time and cut down on the administrative personnel needed to interact with patients. A chilly stethoscope pales in comparison to that kind of cold treatment!
There is a line. We are created for human interaction. However cool some new application might be, nothing can replace a friendly smile or the warmth of a real voice. As a new generation comes of age in our technological society, it’s no wonder they are crying out for "authentic relationships." Each one of us is an individual work of art, a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, and we should rebel against systems that rob us of the opportunity to partake of that beauty.
