Brandon’s Unhealthy Relationship With Media:

It’s hard to say when exactly it started, but I remember a party that I attended late in high school. Some people were passing around some new “technology” that everyone was talking about. At first I tried to resist but as I starred at the shiny, gleaming LCD readout, I couldn’t resist. I had to hold it and know it. My family and friends judged me harshly. I had trouble maintaining relationships. If I had a dime every time I heard a family member say, “Brandon, for heaven’s sake, put down that technology and come to dinner!” or “If you don’t stop typing while I’m talking to you…” In my increasing isolation, I found some solace in the cyber community that I met through my technology problem. There were entire groups of groups of people who were unashamed of their technology dependence, which invigorated me. It was wonderful, I discovered that there were large portions of the population that I never wanted to meet and equally large portions of the population that I was glad I had the fortune to know only in their online environment. During this time, technology had begun to enter into the media. Reporters would hold technology in their hands while simultaneously condemning those who openly embraced their desires for a techno driven society. The news called us “nerds,” “geeks,” and “the unemployable,” among other things. The fools. They were slaves to the technology they condemned but they were too blind to see it. My counselor said that it was important to recognize my unhealthy relationship with technology if I was going to get better. He told me this all the while recording the session on his sexy, sleek looking recording device. Probably the worst moment of my life was Thanksgiving 2003. I’ll never forget that day. The whole family was there. And everything was going fine. The food was cooked perfect. The atmosphere joyous. No one mentioned the war. But then it came time to carve the turkey and Aunt Sophie said, “Brandon, why don’t you cut the bird?” I stood up and without thinking pulled out my electronic knife. You know the kind: it has a vibrating serrated edge like a mini chainsaw. A sudden hush fell around the table and sealed my shame. “Oh, Brandon, how could you?” I heard someone murmur. I have been shunned ever since that night. Technology for me? It has been my life and my curse.