Escalators or stairs?
It’s a good question. By the time you finish reading this, perhaps you’ll change your answer.
Have you ever seen that humorous photo showing two people ‘stuck’ as they ride an escalator? The joke is that the escalator has stopped moving just as they reached the halfway point. The caption usually reads something like: “Great! Now what??”. The inference is that we are powerless to think and do for ourselves.
Or perhaps your technological dependence is on something even more commonplace – like the TV remote. How many times have you spent scouring through cushions, checking tables and counters eager to find this precious handheld controller? Of course, you could reach over and manually turn on the TV, but what a nuisance! “You mean I actually have to change channels one at a time?? By stretching my arm?? That sounds exhausting!!”
Like the escalator and TV remote illustrate, we get used to things. We feel put-‐out when our shortcuts are taken from us and forget what it was like before technology came along. Granted, everybody laughs when they see that picture of two people stranded on an escalator. But the truth is -‐ that’s happened to me -‐ and the first thought that comes across my mind is: “Great! Now I have to actually walk??” It’s only natural to rely on technology. In fact, I bet you’re highly dependent on a lot of things that you could easily do without. We assign importance to things when we really should be viewing these gadgets, gizmos and mechanical devices as icing, not necessity.
Think about your car. If you needed to travel to a destination more than 4 blocks away, would you walk or drive? How about your smart phone? If you left your precious phone in a room for more than 5 minutes, would you casually recognize its absence or would it seem like part of your brain was missing? Even in class, we become reliant on technology needing the assistance of computers and calculators. God forbid that we actually have to learn and recall our times-‐tables!
Don’t think I’m against progress. I’m not. I’m thankful for it. I’d much rather sit in an air-‐conditioned room, wash and dry clothes by machine and nuke my organic vegetables in a microwave. My point is, don’t get so dependent on technology that you lose the ability to think creatively, to do things for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with bypassing technology sometimes for the old ways. As someone who grew up without computers, cell phones and flat-‐screens, I can attest, you appreciate these things much more when you remember what it was like without them. Even more importantly, you realize you can actually live without them.
So, back to the original question: escalator or stairs? I prefer stairs because they let me climb using my own energy, they don’t dictate a set universal pace and I don’t feel obligated to grab that germy rubber rail.
Today, test your own legs out. When you get a choice, try climbing under your own power. Try doing without. Set your phone down, do some math in your head, take a walk. You’ll find that machine between your ears works best when it doesn’t need to depend on outside help all the time. And if the escalator stops halfway up, it’s OK. Just walk to the top. It’s better for you anyway. Have a great day! Now can one of you help me find the remote?
Love dad
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