Technology overload leaves some seeking the simple life

By Jaime North
The Daily Item

May 10, 2009 09:26 am

— Frank Angelo is among the few in the Valley who haven’t been hypnotized by the speed and wizardry of the latest technology of iPods, BlackBerrys and iPhones.

Even high-speed Internet and cable television can’t tickle the 58-year-old Beaver Springs man’s fancy.

And he’s fine with it.

Ditto for Kathleen Hinkel, 89, of Lewisburg; Darlene Hoffman, 60, of Richfield; and Henrietta Yarnail, 82, of Snydertown. All have made a conscious effort to stay unplugged.

Their reasons may vary, but their message is clear. The growth of technology — though a gift — has had a negative influence on society.

“We’ve lost simplicity,” said Angelo, a Beaver Springs man who doesn’t own a cell phone, computer or have cable television. “How many kids today know how to solve a problem with their hands or figure something out on their own?”

Angelo admits technology has its advantages, however life to him is “much more simple than trying to impress people with having the best and newest thing.”

According to Angelo, society has gotten caught up in competition and greed. As a result, he said many people have no time for the true meaning of life.

Angelo has patterned his life around the two things he most enjoys: working with his hands and being outdoors. Sitting by his backyard pond and nearby stream, Angelo often reflects on one of his favorite Bible scriptures.

“Be still and know that I’m God,” Angelo said. “It always gives me a sense of peace and direction. I don’t need television, a cell phone or computer to do that. Unfortunately, too many people do.”

According to Yarnail, of Snydertown, life without 21st Century technology has been just fine. Getting a computer would signify giving up, Yarnail added.

“I never wanted to get to the point where I just sit all day fooling around,” said Yarnail, who still drives and stays active with several clubs, including a local Red Hat Society and a lunch group. “A lot of people will do that, but by the end of the day, what have they accomplished? There are far more important things than the Internet.”

Yarnail said technology has entered life with a prepaid cellphone, TracFone, she keeps in her purse for emergencies.

That’s as far as Yarnail says she plans to go.

“A lot of this stuff is too expensive,” said Yarnail, admitting she has never had a credit card either. “When you’re retired and living on a fixed income, you have to strictly live on a budget. If I can’t afford it, I won’t buy it.”

Not all unplugged Valley residents are firmly fixed in their disconnected world.

Hoffman, of Richfield, considers herself in transition. After having access to a computer for years while working as a shipping clerk for a freight company, Hoffman is getting ready to have her first home computer after being recently laid off.

But don’t believe Hoffman will become a blogger, Internet surfer or e-mail junkie. It’s just for shopping, she affirms.

“I really hate e-mail,” Hoffman said. “It’s the like the cell phone. Why do people need to talk so much?”

Hoffman, like Yarnail, keeps a TracFone in her car for emergencies and to order takeout to pick up on the way home from a shopping trip.

“I have oodles and oodles of minutes, because I never use it,” Hoffman said. “My kids, who are in their thirties, and even my 12-year-old granddaughter have cell phones. They’re always on them, texting and chatting away. I don’t understand it.”

Nothing irks Hoffman more than running into cell phone addicts.

“I’ve sat in the doctor’s office listening to conversations go on and on, and even get behind them in the grocery store line,” Hoffman said. “It drives me nuts. I do believe there is a time and place for technology, but it’s all starting to be too much and coming on too fast.”

According to Hoffman, the growth of technology is destroying personal interaction.

“I may be way out of the loop, but I’m fine with it,” Hoffman said. “I’m trying to keep up. I’m just not doing too good of a job of it.”

Hinkel, now enjoying retirement in Lewisburg, was once working hand-in-hand the latest technology as an office clerk, using such instruments as a typewriter, mimeograph, dictaphone and stenograph. Today, the 89-year-old woman remains active and contributes regularly to the Buffalo Valley Lutheran Village newsletter as a columnist.

Although she has nothing against the technological advances of the word processor and computer, Hinkel feels more at home with her typewriter.

“My family has begged me to get a computer, but I see it as only as waste of time,” Hinkel said. “I do with what I need to do with my typewriter. I have so for 65 years.”

Among Hinkel’s passions over the years has been typing a detailed diary everyday since 1972 and typing letters to friends and family, as much as 143 personal letters typed in one year.

Despite the convenience a computer would provide, Hinkel says she is sticking with her handy typewriter.

“It’s been my life since I was 17,” Hinkel said. “I’ve often wondered what I’d be if I hadn’t learned how to type.”

Hinkel, along with Hoffman and Yarnail, agrees technology has a place in society but prefer to have their lives free of short circuits. Angelo said he is so content to live a simple life, he barely looks beyond the next moment.

“Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is not here yet,” Angelo said. “Why waste your day worrying about what you can’t take back and what you have no control of. Fussing over all these gadgets only takes away from the day God has given you.”

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