Are you kidding me? Here I go, switching to rant mode. Sorry.
Today, we are a society where people do not take responsibility for their actions. I read about poor choices people make on a daily basis in the newspaper. There's always an excuse for bad choices. Who holds themselves accountable for what they say or what they do?
I do. Call me what you want but I also have an expectation that others, including my kids, to be responsible for their choices. What I see is a transformation in our society. Every choice I make has a consequence. Here's where my head is at regarding this. If I am using a calculator to add up all of my monthly bills and my total in the checkbook ledger is not equal to the total amount of money that was debited from my bank account, who is responsible for entering 11.09 instead of 110.90 when the check was actually $110.90?
Of course it is my fault. Right? Who else entered the numbers? Who did not make sure that what I done was correct?
It seems to me that today it is more common to respond by saying, "Oh, don't feel bad. It's not your fault, it's the fault of the calculator." When a basketball player is called for a foul, it's their fault. Having a parent call out from the bleachers, "It's okay, it was a bad call" does nothing but reinforce what I am seeing.
I just cannot accept when I make a poor choice that is not my fault. It goes against every ounce of who I am.
In the same light, the above signature seems to be saying that using a mobile device now excuses rereading what is written prior to sending a message.
I'm not oblivious to the situation. I understand the situation in my day-to-day life. I can send a text message from my phone. I have an old phone, one I've had for at least 5 years. It is time-consuming for me to send a text message. I write a text message on my phone very slowly.
It's simply not about embracing technology. I embrace technology. However, I do not believe that doing so means I am no longer responsible for the content I send. So, if I am brief in my reply or have a typo, that's still my fault! It's not the fault of the device I am using! When I used a manual typewriter in high school and college, if I made a typo, my teacher would circle it. I never dreamed of arguing with the teacher by saying, "It is not my fault. It's the fault of the "device" I used to write the paper."
And, to me, all that has changed is that a mobile device is used instead of a manual typewriter. Everyone in the world with any device needs to take responsibility for what they send to someone. Take a moment. Reread what has been written before sending the message. The way I see it, the device is not alive. Yes, auto-correct helps you write quicker - I understand. And you're not going to rewrite "War and Peace" on a mobile device. Fine. But the device you are using does NOT, repeat does NOT, mean you can write abble when you mean apple and not be responsible for it.
This relates to technical writing. I can write the most excellent documentation about an app. If I write that the app can make coffee and it doesn't, is it the fault of the tool I am using to write the documentation that states the app can make coffee? It's my fault. Period. My challenge for Wednesday, 3/12/13, and for each day I am on this planet, is to make a difference in the world. I can do that by accepting responsibility for my actions and words.
1 comment:
You nailed it.
Post a Comment