Life in the age of the Pandemic: Could you live without the internet?

Post date: May 27, 2020 7:46:29 PM

I just had a conversation with a woman who needed help researching candidates for the primary election in another state. I mentioned several websites (Vote smart and Vote 411) but she said she did not have a computer or smartphone. I suggested she ask a friend or family member to get her an inexpensive tablet like the Kindle Fire, but she said she did not have internet access at her house. She had been relying on the public library’s computers. As I said goodbye, I tried to imagine the past five months or so living without a computer or internet access.

I had two knee replacement surgeries, in December and February, before the Pandemic, so I was in rehab mode. Without a computer, smartphone, and the internet, I could not have talked to family and friends on email, Facebook messenger, and I would be feeling more isolated and lonelier. Without the use of Zoom, my League of Women Voters would not be able to hold our Board Meetings, and I could not participate in the State League meetings. I would not be able to see pictures of my grandsons or my adult children, I couldn’t order groceries online, ask for advice about our new little garden, research coronavirus, post on my blog, read the news, or watch our Netflix shows with Mike. I also would not be working on my novel on Google Docs.

The Pandemic gave me a chance to finish the first draft. I used my mother’s big notebooks as a primary source: she was a country schoolteacher who took the train west to California to work in an aircraft factory to build bombers. But before that happened, Charlotte helped bring electricity to her parents’ rural Tama County farm in 1942. Since she had the summer off, her stepfather suggested she could help the electrician wire their farm buildings, and she did. First, she watched him wire up her schoolhouse, asked questions and handed him tools. Next, she writes, “…then he came down to our farm and changed our lives. Once those lights were turned on, it was difficult to imagine living without them.” He was impressed with my mother’s skills using tools and he wanted her to work with him all summer, but she needed to type up workbooks for her students in the fall. Later, she used those skills to become one of the Rosie Riveters at Rohr Aircraft factory in Chula Vista, California.

As my mother talked about electricity changing their lives, I see the parallel to the way that computers and the internet have transformed our world and our daily routines. It is difficult to imagine living without them, Pandemic, or no Pandemic. I am grateful to have them.

Last updated May 27, 2020