{"id":311,"date":"2011-03-09T10:27:10","date_gmt":"2011-03-09T15:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/?p=311"},"modified":"2013-04-01T18:36:54","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T22:36:54","slug":"311","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/?p=311","title":{"rendered":"Call Collect? \u2013 The Analog World Works If You Know About It"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The generations at the end of the alphabet (X, Y, Z, Millennials \u2013 I know that\u2019s not a letter) of today are amazingly savvy when it comes to electronic media, technology, and ways to use them.\u00a0 This knowledge also allows them to be very self-sufficient. \u00a0When it comes to problem solving, the technology of today is at their finger tips and they know how to use it.<\/p>\n

When Internet service is down, and cell phones are inoperable, something interesting happens.\u00a0 A lot of them do not know what to do in order to communicate or function efficiently in a purely analog world.<\/p>\n

My son is by all objective criteria, a smart, level headed, problem solving, fun loving young man of 16.\u00a0 He knows what he knows, and he knows a lot.\u00a0 I am always amazed at what he knows.\u00a0 He knows songs from the late 60\u2019s, can hold his own in a political conversation with adults, built his own computer, enters writing contests, and is creative with video software. \u00a0He can thumb text with the best.\u00a0 In short, he represents his age group well in our digital times.<\/p>\n

Somehow, my wife and I have failed him.<\/p>\n

He went to Italy to celebrate the New Year with his school\u2019s choir. \u00a0Ten days in Rome, Assisi, and Florence.\u00a0 He knew his cell phone probably would not work, but he was sure he\u2019d be able to reach us through the group\u2019s Facebook page or a blog he was writing.\u00a0 He also knew that one person in his group had a world phone. No problem.<\/p>\n

He was gone about five days, and we had not heard from him. \u00a0The two group Facebook postings were thin, promising more to come, and no blog.\u00a0 While waiting, we went from not wanting to interfere to wondering when we would hear something to frustration and anger. \u00a0It just about ruined New Year\u2019s Eve for us.\u00a0 We had spent all that time getting him ready, saved the money for the trip, and took him to all those early morning choir practices.\u00a0 All we wanted him to do was pick up a phone and call home. \u00a0Not a difficult thing to do–so we thought.<\/p>\n

Finally, on day five the phone rang, and there he was.\u00a0 Before we could say anything, he apologized for how long it had taken him to phone home.\u00a0 He wanted us to know that he had been trying very hard to reach us, but:<\/p>\n