My Technologically Challenged Life By Monica Wunderlich Summary

The essay “My technologically Challenged Life” by Monica Wunderlich has made me realize how much we need technology in our lives and how important it is for people to know how to use it. Technology is used for many different things like keeping in touch with relatives that live far from you and many other things. Technology keeps evolving very rapidly and it can be hard for people to keep up with all this new technology coming out, this is what this story is about. In this essay, a woman tells us about her experiences with technology, and tells her difficulties in everyday life because of her lack of experience with technology.

In this story Monica's (the author's) parents chose not to use technology and that is why it's a challenge for her

to use it. In 1995, her parents still owned a rotary phone until they had to get a new one because the phone would not work with the new automated menus. Her parents' argument to having the rotary phone is because of privacy issues. By using rotary phones, no one would be able to tap into their phone and listen to their conversations. When she started high school she also struggled because she needed a computer for essays but her parents wouldn't get her one because this is what they said: “They're too expensive” or “We have no room for one” or “We'll get one later”. (Page 196). She and her sister had to go to their friends' houses to type up their essays but they couldn't always go because their friends had to do something, so they had to use an electronic word processor which was hard to use because of the tiny screen that only showed one line of text and they always wound up with a lot of mistakes in their papers.
As an adult, Monica gets a job in a home for the elderly where technology is also lacking. In her job she has to take patients' vital signs but her employers don't grant the equipment for electronic vitals. They still use glass thermometers which are not only a waste of time but also dangerous because they contain harmful mercury for the patients. Electronic thermometers would be much more efficient with doing the job. The care home also does not allow feeding machines so the nurses have to hook up a syringe to the patient's stomach tube, and pour their meals down the tube little by little which takes twenty minutes and eats away at the nurses' times. If they had feeding machines, the only thing they would have to do is change a bag when the machine beeps. They also have to use manual blood pressure cuffs. The problem with these blood pressure cuffs is that they don't give an accurate reading of the patients' blood pressure. Everything in her job is not electronic, so it's very hard for the employees to do their jobs and also, more time consuming.
Another part of her life that is technologically challenged is her car.

The only technology in her car is the standard airbags. Her car didn't even come with a CD player so she had to buy one for it. To roll down a window, she has to use a crank which takes more time and effort than just pushing a switch with electronic windows. Her car does not have a Global Positioning System, making it hard for her to find the places that she needs to get to. At the end of the story she states that no matter how much technology there is out there, she gets through the day without most of it. The author is very inexperienced with technology but is slowly learning more about

it.
Technology is a very important tool for people. The author says “It would seem hard to imagine someone else living without such modern conveniences, and yes, at times I feel very primitive.” (Page 199) Almost everyone uses technology whether it be for communicating with relatives from far away, or finding information on the internet. Most often people never stop and think what our lives would be like without technology. Understanding the importance of technology is a must for everyone because it is a massive part of our lives that we need to know more about. In today's world technology is constantly changing faster than most people can keep up with. Thirty years ago people used to have to send letters to communicate with each other, now people can just email each other with the click of the mouse.
Not only our daily lives are benefited by technology, another field is medical.

Thanks to technology, many diseases that before were major causes of death, can now be healed by technology. There are now many vaccines that can make people healthier, and prevent certain diseases. Most importantly, there are now many scientists looking for new solutions to cure current diseases. Technology also makes the job of nurses and other people easier, something that they did not have in the elderly home where Monica worked. The author states “We are still using glass thermometers, which are not only a waste of time, but they are extremely dangerous. Residents are known to bite down on the thermometers, exposing themselves to harmful mercury.” (Page 196-197) She is explaining how using manual thermometers are not only a waste of time but also dangerous for the

patients.
Technology has been evolving very rapidly that I would understand why people would have trouble using it. It is important for people to know how to use technology, because technology is a very helpful tool that has made a big impact in our lives. The author of this story had trouble because she didn't know how to use it. She says “I feel as if technology has taken on the role of a rabbit, and I am the fox with three legs that just can't seem to get it.” (Page 195) In this analogy, the author is comparing herself to a three-legged fox chasing a rabbit. She is the rabbit and technology is the fox, she feels like technology is constantly changing and technology is really catching up to her quickly.
In Conclusion, technology is a very important and handy tool that has made lots of jobs and lives of people easier and more efficient, that is why it is beneficial to know how to use it. It might be hard for some people to learn how to use it, because it is quickly changing as time goes by, and it might be different from what they were used to years ago. This story shows the struggles that the author had to endure because of her lack of knowledge with technology, and showed me the importance of knowing how to use it.