So, I'm doing something different when I travel to Kentucky tomorrow. Something I haven't done in years.
I am not taking my laptop.
I know what you're thinking. "That's just crazy talk, Coy!" Or, "How on earth will you survive??!?" I know, I know. It was a really tough decision, but it boils down to this: I do not want to lug my laptop and all of its accoutrements to KY when I will, almost assuredly, not use it. If I need to get on a computer that bad, I'll use my mom's. But I am going to try and stay unwired, as much as is possible.
I think these technology breaks, especially for someone in my line of work, are important. Vital, even. I get short breaks...times when I'm riding, for example. But I haven't had a long break from a computer in...I can't remember. Even when I go to the cabin I take my laptop with me and end up doing stuff on it. It's like when I was in the Navy...we would spend so much time on watch, sleeping, working...we would forget to go outside once in a while (unless you smoked). I remember going multiple weeks without sunlight, and when I finally went outside, felt very strange. I got to the point where I had to remind myself to go outside and see the sea...and the sun, clouds, etc. This is kind of reverse, though. Instead of actively seeking something that I missed, I am actively seeking to remove something that I am constantly exposed to. This should be cathartic.
I am looking forward to seeing my mom. She has her quirks...we all do. And she can drive me batty sometimes, as only mothers can. But I love her, and appreciate how nervous she is about this eye surgery on Monday, so I will be with her.
Change of Subject:
I read a story the other day about these three kids who killed a homeless man, and the tag line was how their main influence to commit murder was video games.
Sickening.
I also read a long letter written by the step-mother of one of these boys (14 years old, i think) that was angry, upset, regretful...all the things you can imagine a woman in her position would be. What it boils down to is this: As a parent, she had tried everything; counseling, discipline, positive reinforcement, removal of privileges...if you can think of it, they tried it. This child was just broken. He was constantly in trouble for really serious things, like auto theft and assaulting handicapped peers. The cops would always pick him up and bring him home. He would accuse them of abuse (he was 6-2, 200 pounds, and she was 5-4, 115 or something like that), which would always get him out of trouble and focus the authorities on his parents. I am not belittling the problems of child abuse, and neither was this woman. Authorities have to respond to things like that as soon as they here them. What they don't do, however, is follow through. If this kid had been incarcerated for his previous lawlessness and violence, he would not have had the opportunity to commit murder.
And, here's a news flash: video games did not make him do it. I am not pro-violent video games, so don't walk away with that message. And I do think that exposure to violence, regardless of the medium (movies, tv, news, video games, etc), desensitizes us to its effects. But the media chooses to report the video game link, and walk away from the bigger, more truthful story, which is that this child was completely gone, and the reason we have a penal code and laws is to protect the larger portion of society from monstrous acts, and that this system, in this specific case, broke down and did not help.
Another thing the media is not reporting is that this kid has an older brother raised in the same environment by the same parents with the same influences, and he isn't a vicious murderer. In fact, he is struggling to save money so he can get his degree in architecture.
I'm not going to go on...I think the ESRB does a laudible job of rating video games, and us parents need to pay attention to what are kids are ingesting. The responsibility to raise my children does not belong to any industry, it belongs to me. I take that very seriously.
Ok, I lied. I did go on.
That's all for today. Next post will be when I get back for Kentucky.
"At work I just take time, And all through my coffee break-time, I say a little prayer for you."
