Written by Chelsea | 20 October 2009
Posted in Technology

I recently had a string of bad luck that included getting both my laptop and iPhone stolen within a month of each other. I just moved to Brooklyn and there has been a crime-wave that I didn't see in the idyllic neighborhood brochure.  After mourning the loss of these devices I have slowly been coming to the terms with my habitual technological addictions, a plight well known to many of our generation.

There has been a shift in the way I go about my days now and they include a lot more social interaction.  Before, when I had to be somewhere, I would type it in to Google maps and walk the streets of New York letting the screen and little blue dot guide me.  Now, instead of relying on Google maps, I turn to my fellow New Yorkers who can help me just the same (and with much more personality).  Don't get me wrong, having a smart phone is very convenient, but it also buffered me into a self-contained world of ear-buds and every application or tool I would need.  This insular world was safe and not until someone snatched it out of my hands and ran down the street with it, did I begin to really see the wold outside my touch screen  Beyond that small screen are interesting people, with both good and bad intentions, who I had been expertly eluding. 

So these unfortunate experiences have led me to two conclusions (more like two suggestions).  The first, be careful with your electronics in seedy parts of New York.  The second, and more important, is a challenge to unplug yourself from your devices and reach out to the people you pass by more often.  We are all living in communities and it is our choice whether or not to be engaged within them.