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storiesfromabackseat · 5 years

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Tech no logic

I am merely sharing the experiences I gather from simply listening to another person’s story, through the perspective of the back seat. I have realized I take interest in listening and imagine for that moment what goes on in one’s life in this case through my cab journeys from whoever wherever if they don’t appear lifeless to me. I mean everybody has a story and a journey, this concept was introduced to me by a German friend I met on the ktm (inter country train service) coming back into Singapore from Johor Bahru, he gave me this subconscious idea that it would be really nice to listen to people who commute a specific route every day of their lives. I returned the favor by giving him a lift to northpoint in Yishun.

So i should start with the freshest.

I got into a booked trip from catching up with two buddies of mine, from bishan to sembawang, initially the first driver suggested that the gps seemed far away so I might want to consider cancelling the ride (12 mins) I was fine with it but It seemed like he was not willing to travel down so I went ahead to cancel it.

So thereafter making a new booking, this KIA stoney pulled up & seemed pretty new, received a call and soon I was at the backseat, so I notice the interior is still wrapped in plastic at a few spots and Mr Kia reconfirmed it moments after, so here I am listening to the BBC and I ponder how should I start conversing so I decided to seek his opinion of the nature of which BBC delivers their version of the news. So he lowers the volume and engages in conversation with me; “well honestly it is a window to hear about the rest of the world because I don’t have a lot of opportunity to travel”

A piece of me sunk which was why I was even more encouraged to let him share a story and his view.

So he claims that the current situation of affairs around the world is very messy such as the USA, Hong Kong, climate change, the digital age, the Chinese revolution, I replied “chaos” my friend chaos, there’s one faction asserting their take over the world plan of which 70% of the job is complete. Now what is left is technology and implementing 5G.

So he claims that the situation happening to Hong Kong is boiled down to the education, governance, triad control and the way that had been corrupted (toxic) history being taught to the nation during the time was purely tipping them to a situation of identity crisis.

Well what I believe and know was thanks to the opium wars; shit really hit the fan when it boiled down to the whole picture as to what is wrong or messed up about the way the British handled trade and their love for tea. Sad but who can rise up and say no to being taken back home, pity to see that it’s the marriage of 2 types of powers corrupted the foundations and sold its soul to the highest bidder.

So I asked him what his occupation was before driving with gojek, he proceeded to share that he was working in the tech sales industry and due to the changes; he simply could not keep up.

Well since he was on the topic of technology I asked him this.

Is technology a good thing or a bad thing?

To which he said yes it is because without the evolution of technology you would not be commuting in my vehicle, it makes the everyday processes of life easier and thus we should be grateful for it.

In all honesty, I do realize that technology is a double edged blade. On one hand we have unlimited access to information and the most addictive drug in the world, Dopamine, whenever we see a notification, a like, a response on our social media; facebook/twitter/instagram/whatsapp/email, it just validates our existence to the “world” to that limited audience. We post events to fish for compliments, to show the world how our life is, but most of it is only to feed a monster inside us driven by consumerism and capitalism.

I was told that he is a father of 1 and his only son seems more interested in what is on his phone rather than doing or focusing on activities which would improve him as a being, as a person. Without wanting to assume I tried illustrating how I feel that for people who say they regret not doing or spending time on a particular person/family member before the passing occurs, well to me if we all stop wasting time away on dramas/technology/social media, start to really cherish moments and never putting things off to a later date. I believe life is still worth rooting for as long as we remember who needs to be attended rather than being a technological slave to the system. Take a look around you when you are commuting to work or back home, it is a sad sight to behold that everybody is glued to their smart phones in which case the phone becomes smarter than the user because we are just junkies stuck on a screen. Place a bag with 10 thousand dollars on the train and nobody would bat an eye.

After he shares that his son who attends primary 3 in school refuses to stay in school, being a tyrant and a delinquent in class merely pertaining to the fact that he wants to watch youtube all the time; he admitted he handed his child a smartphone at the age of 5 and they say the rest is history. So if you are reading this and just started a family, please do ourselves a favor and not bribe your child to eating his or her meals with the reward of youtube, because over time your child will lose the opportunity to develop their primal instincts which is to socialize, communicate, express or merely explore because every known experience can be searched up and consumed in a matter of hours. Back in the day if we had refused to consume our meals then we would probably starve to death, but what incentive is there to rebel against something which makes you feel whole. FOOD.

While I was in Kuala Lumpur catching up with a friend of mine, over coffee I noticed a table beside me with a family dining brunch but they were not engaging much as 5 of the 6 members were literally glued to their phones as they sat there lifeless eating their meal. With the only child sitting all alone in the middle as his family members get robbed of the quality time they could have spent instead of being hooked on dopamine hits” I mean likes and comments.

So our journey was coming to an end and I told him, another approach his ordeal is to try and sit his son down and just talk to him spelling out the pitfalls of what is to come if he decides to carry on his addiction if not one day he will look up and daddy is gone of which all the sacrifice of driving to provide for the family would have just ended as a legacy tainted by youtube and how it tore a family nucleus apart.

I honestly do not care about being heard because humanity is the worst thing that ever happened to this planet.

So I ask again, is technology a good or a bad thing?

#backseatstories pointsfromanotherview

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