Photo Credit: © Dreamstime Agency | Dreamstime.com
Editor’s Note: This column, “LBWA” (Leadership By Wandering Around), is based on the premise that, in order to find out what’s going on in the field, a parks and rec leader has to leave his or her desk and “wander around” the area of operations, talk to people, ask questions, and kick around ideas with the individuals in the thick of delivering services to the public. So the author will bring up issues and ask the leaders among the readership to share their knowledge and experiences.
Strictly speaking, I don’t think I have “technophobia,” since that involves a fear of complex technology--especially computers--and I don’t fear the machine. But what I do fear is that human beings are fast becoming--or maybe we’ve already become--slaves to the machine instead of masters.
Now, before you stop reading and turn the page, saying, “What the heck does this have to do with recreation?”, pause a moment and think of the last time you went on vacation and really, I mean really, left work behind? As professional “recreators,” are we setting the example when we go on vacation and really use the time to unwind, or merely extend the wireless umbilical cord of technology beyond the normal leash length? Has the term “The Man,” denoting the figurative person who controls the world, been replaced with, “The Machine”?
Consuming Common Sense
When you left for the last vacation, did you pack a laptop? Did you bring a cell phone and charger? Did you make sure a Blackberry or Iphone was in the bag? How about your kids? Were they wired to all their gaming or viewing equipment, and were the batteries fresh? Did you bring a Wii so you could play pseudo-tennis in an air-conditioned hotel suite while the tennis courts outside baked in the afternoon sun?