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HELP!! THE WORLD
IS SHRINKING!! |
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My 22 year old son graduated from
college last May with a degree in something or other, and immediately
found a low-paying, menial job that certainly did not require a college
education.
It was in an office,
though, and after a GRUELING six months of working 37 hours a week, he
decided it was time for an extended vacation. So with his meager savings
in hand, he headed off for a two month trip to South America with his
girlfriend.
"Thanks for the
education, sucker," he said as I watched him pack his bag right after
Christmas. "I’ll be in touch."
My little boy was going
far, far away. I remember when I travelled while in college in the 70’s.
My parents had no idea where I was, how I was doing, or if I was still
alive. I’d send occasional letters, but that was about it.
"You can’t afford to
use your cell phone in foreign countries," I said. "How will we
contact you?"
He looked at me like all
children look at their Neanderthal parents—with disdain. "Haven’t
you heard of WhatsApp?" he asked.
"No."
"How about Viber?"
"No."
"How about Skype?"
Victory. I did know all
about Skype. I’ve even used it a few times when I was in another country
to call home. I let him know that it was nice to know we could Skype (it’s
now a verb) him or he could Skype us. Pretty cool.
"No one uses Skype
anymore," he explained. "It’s for old people. You need to have
an internet connection and pay two cents per minute or something. With
WhatsApp and Viber you can text or call for free."
I am so
"yesterday." So I went on my phone and downloaded WhatsApp and
Viber for a grand total of 99 cents. Then I took my little boy to the
airport and watched him walk away for his big adventure in a land far, far
from home.
Fifteen hours later I got a
text on my phone from WhatsApp. "Landed in Santiago, Chile. Anybody
miss me yet?"
This was going to be a
little different than my college travels. The world is getting smaller
every day. My little boy wasn’t so far away after all.
I might have missed
watching the Super Bowl with him a couple of weeks later, but as he sat in
front of a television somewhere in Patagonia, we kept a constant texting
communication going.
"49ers suck," he wrote
during the first half. "Bring in Alex Smith."
"Kaepernick is the
man," he wrote during the second half. "Let’s frigging
go!!!"
It was weird. He was in
Patagonia, I was in Marin County, and it was like he was next door. And I
could have picked up my cell phone and called him on Viber for free
anytime I wanted.
I didn’t, though, because
you got to give him his space. In fact, we’d go a few days without any
communication, just to show how independent he’d become.
But I was thankful for the
technology when I happened to glance at the USA Today travel section and
noticed a small paragraph on the corner of the page headlined "Cancel
Your Trip To Machu Piccu."
That was my son’s last
stop, two weeks in Peru and the Cusco region, including a hike to the Inca
ruins at Machu Piccu. Unfortunately, the State Department had issued a
travel alert warning of kidnappings in the area that were targeting
American tourists.
In the old days, he never
would have known. But now all I had to do was text or call. So I texted
him and let him know about the alert. Being the most cautious child that
ever walked the earth, he quickly cancelled his trip to Machu Piccu.
"Glad to hear
it," I texted back. "If you got kidnapped, it would put me in a
terrible spot deciding how much ransom you were worth. I’m thinking $500
but I might go a little higher."
"That’s touching,
thank you," he wrote back. I’ll give them that offer up
front."
A few days later he
and his girlfriend were safely home, about two weeks before they were
scheduled to return, thanks to the cancelled Machu Piccu and Peru portion.
I didn’t even ask
when he would start looking for a job. I knew to wait at least two weeks.
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