11/10/2025
How do you cope with the frustrations of technology? I've been preoccupied lately. I've slipped into the mistaken assumption that technology is there to be of help in whatever I am trying to do on my computer. As soon as I enter the virtual world, I am effectively reinforcing a contract of engagement with the provider of whichever service I am using (health, finance, social media, retailers, insurance etc etc). All seems fine, until a problem arises, then the opportunities for resolving an issue become very narrow.
I can "speak" to a bot. Getting past the bot and actually speaking to a person requires box ticking. Wrong box, then repeat the same message in different ways. This invariably returns me to the beginning. Should there be a glimmer of hope that I will be connected to a real person, it is dependent on how overworked and under-resourced that department is, and whether they are able to resolve an issue. If they can't then it is a referral (via internal message) to another department, with its policy of sending customers a template email only. It's not possible to reply but there will be instructions to click on links in their email, which lead back to where I started. Another bot, more boxes. Rather than bang my head on the computer screen, I try again. And again. I'm not one to give up easily, yet it defeats me. Then I have to switch off.. until the next day.
Technology is without doubt helpful in many ways in creating networks of connectivity. However, technology and those who build the sites we use, are process-thinkers. This is the lens they look through in driving toward their goals. It's becoming rarer to find a service provider which is genuinely in service to people. Maybe the aim of the net is to ensnare rather than liberate. Although it does liberate my feelings of frustration at the system...
I'm grateful to Vervain, along with countryside walks crunching through the fallen leaves and the wonders of nature. There's the joy!đș
