What do you do when your computer suddenly locks you out, and offers an arcane message with no way in again? The 'new' computerised world isn't all that new; it's been in place for at least 30 years. That's the world where everything from blogging to banking is done online, and I remember the night the state government sent someone to our town demonstrating the wonders of the internet to us locals: I felt like an ancient alien in the presence of my first camera.
Technology moves quick, superseding itself continually, and somehow, engaging with real life had a grip on priorities while IT went through several permutations How did we become at once so ignorant and so dependent?
When you get a computer, you don't have an object. You've purchased a key, manipulated from elsewhere, and they can suddenly change the locks. This has its benefits: when you don't have the key you must turn to your fellow human beings for help and support. While you wait for repairs.
This prompts reflection.
I got locked out of my computer. Who else gets locked out, of where? Clearly asylum seekers (refugees) often lack many keys to safe spaces. Physical lockouts operate on disabilities: the world is full of spinning lights, steep stairs, narrow gates, and fine print. There are social lockouts over superstitiously seen 'contagious sorrows' such as addictions, mental conditions and the victimhood following violent crimes (especially murder), since the idea that anything can happen to anyone affects our beliefs in the safety and sanctity of our own lives. Shunning is lockout.
So if you have a key, it would be kind and thoughtful to share it. I'm writing this blog at the library, while I await the new key, the restoration, the repairs.
No comments:
Post a Comment