disconnected

it was brought home to me again last week just how important the internet is to my life.  simply because i was without it for a few days.  and so that feeling i had of finally catching up with things slid away as i was unable to keep up with the various activities and organisations i'm involved with.

an internet connection is a human right.  it's now an essential part of being connected and getting work done.  it's an essential part of decision-making, an efficient way of having discussions with multiple people at one time.

i know there are people who are managing well enough without the internet, some by choice and others who don't have much choice in the matter.  i watch one organisation in particular, where one person chooses not to use the internet at all.  while he gets important documents by email, it's inevitable that he is missing out on the various discussions and numerous small decisions that get made via email.  his involvement in the organisation is clearly not the same as those of us who are connected, and there is no practical way around that.

so i struggled without internet at home, and then without a computer at all for a day after that.  and also struggled with the difficulty i have in dealing with things technological.  technical people seem to think that everything is so simple - connect this to that, put this cable into here and that one into there.  unfortunately, when directions are being given on the phone, and i don't know the names of the various cables or the words to describe the various endings on them, and i can't understand how to fit things into other things, it all leads to a bit of a mess.

but i'm glad to be back on line now, and slowly working my way through the various bits and pieces that need my attention.  and since last week was pretty stressful and energy-draining for me (not just because of internet issues), i've decided to link to a story that i thought was quite nice:

Cheering up their Muslim teammate, a Floridian high school football team decided to don hijab before their season finale game to show solidarity with their Muslim captain who has been taunted repeatedly over her religious outfit.

"Everybody looked at us weird," West Broward senior Marilyn Solorzano told Sun Sentinel website on Friday, April 20.

"I understand now everything she went through and how hard it must have been.

i can't think of a better way to fight discrimination than by showing solidarity in this way.  and in a world that tends to show women, and especially young women, constantly competing and in conflict with each other, it's great to see such an example of young women being supportive and sticking together.