Back to the Stone Age

My dissertation today will be about the dangers inherent in the hold technology has over our lives. Just ask the people of Louisiana about that one in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The more dependent we become upon technology over which we have no control and no ability to repair if it breaks down the more vulnerable we become. For two weeks we enjoyed almost daily thunderstorms and at some point a charge entered the electrical system of our building. It blew several fluorescent tubes, fried the PA System, and knocked out the office's connection to the trunk internet line. Several other systems were also affected.

The problem when you work for a nationwide bureaucracy is that you have no control over the repair process. All you can do is attempt to figure out who has to be called to report the problem and at that point you're at the mercy of the technical department's priorities and contracts. The fact that no one can get paid, no reports filed, no E-mail read, no customer complaints dealt with, no data up-linked or down-linked, no document printed is no concern of theirs. All you can do is wait and attempt to do what you can without the aid of 21st Century technology. I do find it ironic that an agency whose basic thrust is the delivery of mail door to door on foot is so tied to so many high tech devices that it can be paralyzed when they break down.