Business as Usual

The holidays are the perfect time for a bit of family togetherness, a common time amidst the demands of professional lives and schoolwork. The end of the year is much anticipated not only for the festivities, but because it is the best time to reconnect with the rest of the family.

Considering how the holidays are supposed to be a welcome respite from the day-to-day stress of our ordinary lives, it is such a shame to witness how indispensable computers and other gadgets intended to enhance "connectivity" have become to our everyday lives. There is something very sad about watching grownups setting up their laptops right after christmas dinner, and children's offhand acceptance of the necessity for it. Seeing relatives receiving business phone calls on Christmas Eve, and checking their email for important correspondence, brings to mind the simpler celebrations of my childhood, when my parents used a noisy typewriter but left their work at the office.

I realize the practicality and importance of remaining connected at all times, given the increasing globalization of industries (Japan, after all, does not celebrate Christmas). However, it is more difficult than usual to ignore how intrusive technology has become at a time traditionally spent privately and--unless age has improved upon my childhood recollections--far more enthusiastically. Since work could only take up so much of people's time, people brought something home-cooked; people sang carols with gusto instead of breaking out the bulky karaoke system, and in the absence of cable to keep them busy, kids took naps before the clock struck twelve. These days, it seems easier to order at least part of the noche buena, hook up the iPod, and put the Cartoon Network on. It's an easier, more convenient way to celebrate, but to my mind technology has taken away a lot of the excitement and anticipation my family has always associated with the yuletide season.