In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Cut Off.”
Dedicated to “Richard and Sara”. Thank You for letting me share your personal story on my blog
Technology… It has crept into our lives in millions and millions of modes. And even if we want to, we cant shrug it off us, now. My dear friend, philosopher, guide and colleague who shares a cubicle in office with me, “Richard”, was in a big dilemma yesterday. Hear his story out.
With the financial year end round the corner, the entire office has been on tenterhooks. Boss “A“ has been hyper-ventilating since Jan, pushing us to perform and achieve targets well before the deadline of 31st March. So practically everyone, (including Benjamin our office chai-wala and, Poovanna our security guard) has been staying back in office well past working hours for over a month now. Where this was becoming stressful to almost all of us, Richard was having other issues. His wife Sara was getting tired of his long working hours.
Of course Sara is a smart, understanding and efficient wife. But managing a naughty boy like Danny, coupled with husband’s continuous absence, could psych any person. The unscheduled weekend projects, was taking a toll on Richard and somewhere on their relationship too. Sara felt Richard was neglecting them. And Richard was just caught between his family and “Boss A’s” eccentricities.
With our once a week meetings now having become once a day, we all were hard pressed for time. It was during one such meetings, Sara called to have a word with her husband regarding some plumbing work in their home. The call went unanswered, as Boss A would seldom approve it in a meeting. Richard felt another vibration from his mobile. This time Sara had texted on WhatsApp. Richard clicked on the message to read, the phone concealed under the table. Just as he was about to read it, Boss “A” raised a couple of client issues for Richard to look into on an urgent basis. And that was it. Richard could’nt complete reading the message,until lunch time. By then it was too late. Sara was fuming. She was upset that Richard read the message, and didn’t bother to respond to it. Richard tried to explain what happned, but in vain.
WhatsApp users get a single tick when messages have been sent. A message delivered would give a double grey tick, and once it’s read, those tick marks turn blue. Richard had technically not read the message he received. But by virtue of the fact that he clicked on it, Sara got a double blue click, communicating the message had been read. Sara didn’t believe Richard’s story and Richard could not justify his stand more. Technology had won.
He did make up for it that evening by going home early. But here is a question that he posed to all of us the next morning? “Did his wife Sara trust technology more than him?”
What do you think? Do you also have a similar story to share where you lost to technology? Do let me know.
Linking with : http://www.writetribe.com/write-tribe-pro-blogger-challenge/
