Dad, no one is listening to me

FaceTime is a wonderful thing for a traveling parent. Most of today's technology designed to keep America "connected" has resulted in disconnecting from reality and supplementing life experience with virtual feedback. Like a trip to Las Vegas, you get flashing lights, cute sounds, rewarding point totals, and the ever popular instant "like" of acceptance and praise with every snap of an Instagram. Even our "presidential" candidates use 140 characters and the thumbs of interns to tell us why we should or shouldn't cast a vote for them in an election process that was first written on parchment when a twitter was slang for your goofy neighbor who liked feeding pigeons from her porch.

One of my favorite internet meme's right now is an image of a 1980's windowless cargo van, dark color, with the words, "Rare Pokemon Inside" spray painted on the side. The caption reads, "How to kidnap a 28 year old in 2016"

As a father with daughters, who travels and works from a phone and Microsoft surface and an airplane and in 40 some odd states, the idea of your children separating into some digital universe instead of bonding with you is a dangerous proposition. I liken it to the original movie Tron, not the remake for obvious artistic reasons, except the blue light doesn't surge up and down on their super cool spacesuit pants, but glows on your child's face from the reflection of an Ipad.

As a parent in the digital age, you also may fall into the trap of getting sucked into the mind numbing alternate universe of social media, 24 hour news at the touch of a finger on your phone, and during the most glorious time of year, you find yourself trapped in football and fantasy sports. I admit to failure in this department, and my fantasy drafts are fast approaching. As the reigning champion in 1 league, one has an obligation to defend one's honor...

So, driving down I85 in Georgia's mountains, on the way back to an airport, as a passenger in the car mid update on Linked In, the familiar ring of FaceTime twinkles in the car.

I gently slide the accept call button, and so appears a blonde 4 year old also sitting in a car as a passenger. We bond immediately as twin captives strapped in our chairs as others bounce happily through traffic. I realize we are mutually in a 55 mph reality and looking for an escape into the digitally enabled world of each other. After the general pleasantries of 4 yr old conversation, a frustrated huff occurs and a small frown appears, "Dad, I'm having a rough day"

At 4, "rough" can mean many things, so I needed clarity. "Why honey?"

"Dad, no one is listening to me!"

4 year old girls never seem to stop talking, at least intentionally, so I found it likely that everyone in the car was listening, but had given up on interrupting or commenting. "No one listening" was not likely accurate, since clearly, Steve Jobs and his vision, had solved this problem for my child years ago with the release of FaceTime, and our current technological connection. So I corrected her and let her know I was listening to her right now.

"But dad, no one is listening here"

At that moment, all the Candy Crush, Netflix, Frozen Themed Games, and even the vaunted Pokemon could not serve my daughter's needs for human interaction. My daughter can ask Siri "Are we there yet?" and she may respond with a snarky comment adrift in the modern hipster programmed response, but it will not provide her what she craved at that moment.

I was told I was loved, and saw a smile on a 4 year old Tron who had found her way out of the video game. I will continue my vigilance to keep both of us away from rare pokemon vans and the virtual non reality we face today.

Enjoy!

bvd