“Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.”
That is a quote from the ever-brilliant Joseph Campbell. It is both funny and true, as the best quotes are.
However, it’s Thankful Thursday, and while I realize most of you will think we’ve gone past this point by this time, I am going to talk about how thankful I am for computers.
I love computers. I know, I know. Two of the most dreaded words in the English language are “computer error.” Almost as bad: when the phone rep says, “the computer is down.” We hate the computerized phone menus that seem to be malevolently blocking us from talking to a human being. We are annoyed when the people we are with keep checking their smartphones instead of giving their undivided attention to our scintillating conversation. We can’t understand how we come to waste so much time on Facebook.
But, oh! The hours of entertainment. The increase in productivity. In my case, the leap from temporary secretary at $15-$20 per hour to computer programmer and over a hundred. Even more important, I sometimes think, was the antidote to powerlessness.
There is no one who has less power than a would-be actor. Almost all other artists can practice their craft in the absence of recognition. If you are a writer, all you need is a pencil and a scrap of paper. If you are a visual artist, you can draw anywhere. A singer may sing in the shower. If you play an instrument, you can play it any time (taking into account consideration for neighbors, of course).
The actor, whose instrument is herself, cannot do much without other actors.
It is the only craft I know where you need permission to practice it. And another hundred people just got off of the train.* The competition for that permission is fierce. Opportunities can be few and frustratingly long in coming. It’s easy to feel discouraged and incompetent and without power.
But. . .you can sit down at a computer, and if you know the right keys to press, you can make it do anything.
I love computers.
* Stephen Sondheim, Company, “Another Hundred People”
