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The Citizen, 2017-09-21, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views We've lost touch in a connected area Don't expect to find me among those lined up to get the new iPhone X that was announced with great fanfare last week. Not only do I not have $1,300 I want to plunk down for a phone but I don't need the "augmented reality" that is the phone's greatest breakthrough. I've had all the augmented reality I can stand living through the Donald Trump presidency. Still, it's hard to get my head around the reality that the announcement of this latest smartphone marks 10 years since Apple founder Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone. The world seems to have changed irrevocably since that announcement. By last year, a Canadian research company reported, 67 per cent of Canadians owned an iPhone or one of its rival smartphones. Even kids feel aggrieved if their parents don't buy them their own smartphone. I'm thinking my mother would be very grateful she didn't have to raise me in the era of the smartphone — and not just because she couldn't have afforded $1,300 for a phone for each of her three kids — a grand total that was as much as my parents paid for their farm. My mother worked hard to try to nudge me out of my bubble of shyness. Even before I went to school, she had me singing at her Women's Institute's meetings — whether her fellow members wanted to hear me or not. Later, when she heard that our public school had a public speaking contest but didn't make it compulsory for all students to participate, she was upset that I chose not to stand up in front of the class and recite a speech. I seized every opportunity to keep from having to make contact with other human beings, so imagine what I'd have been like in the age of the smartphone. Even supporters of Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk this amazing technology worry that the downside of having this powerful computer in your pocket is that people are making less and less human contact. Though technically a telephone, many owners hardly ever speak to anyone directly on their smartphone — they text. There's a powerful attraction to that. Though I don't text, I do find the anonymity of sending an e-mail instead of picking up the phone and calling some stranger appeals to the shy kid that's still inside this aging body. I can't imagine how much I might have embraced the ability to connect with others without actually talking to them or meeting them. It's not hard to see the human disconnect in this most connected era in history. You watch people sitting opposite each other in restaurants, not speaking because each is engrossed by his or her own smartphone screen. Families that don't have rules declaring "no phones at the table" don't talk during meals. Some people sharing the same house text each other rather than walking a few feet to talk face to face. Recently I heard a young mother on the radio speak of watching other mothers at a playground who were so absorbed by their phones that they didn't hear their kids calling "Mom, look at me!" as they tried some stunt on playground equipment that was designed to get their mother's attention — but didn't. This faceless trend is expanding across society. People line up to use an anonymous ATM machine in the lobby of banks when they could go into the bank and walk right up to a teller without waiting, but then they'd be forced to talk to someone. The ATM users are actually being adventurous in going to the bank because so many people bank on line and never need to leave home. They can also shop on line and book hotels and vacations on line and pretty much anything else. It's a hermit's dream. And it's all so addictive. In the days when the Canadian -made Blackberry was the darling of the business class, it was often called the "Crackberry" because people got hooked on using it. Steve Jobs' iPhone just democratized smartphones making it easier for everyone to become addicted. Smartphones are a miracle. Bring back anyone who died before 2007 and they'd be astounded at the information that anyone with a smartphone can call up in an instant — let alone watching people shoot videos and photos and instantly share them with people miles away. But all technologies have unintended consequences and we must become judicious in their use to gain their benefits without suffering the consequences of miss -use or over -use. Television, too, was an addictive medium and people stayed home and participated less in their communities until they finally realized they were missing interesting things that weren't on TV. I don't know what's going to happen to the shy kid of today who can hide behind his cell phone to avoid people. I'm hoping that his wise parents are going to see that they're not doing their child a favour by letting him avoid human contact. I'm hoping they figure that out for themselves, too. Parenting 101: Avoid uncut apples Last week, as I sat down with my healthy dessert of a Granny Smith apple after dinner, I ran into an odd situation with Mary Jane. My wife is currently on the night shift at her job so, after 5 p.m., it's daddy -daughter bonding time at the Scott house. That night, as stated, I didn't turn to ice cream as dessert or look forward to chips or popcorn as a late-night snack, I decided that, since I had spent a good portion of my day being healthy and walking the grounds at the annual Elementary School Fair, I would continue being healthy and have a Granny Smith as dessert. I suppose, before I continue with this story, I need to impress upon people my daughter's love of playing catch (or I guess fetch, but don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing her to a dog). The first time we passed the rubber ball enclosure at Wal-Mart, or the first time we passed it once she was old enough to sit in the child's seat in the cart, my wife made the happy mistake of passing it too closely. Mary Jane quickly reached out and claimed two of the balls as her own. The duo made their way home that day since Ashleigh says she's never seen Mary Jane so happy with a toy. Since then, those large rubber balls, alongside several other smaller ones we had around the house prior to her birth, have become the centre of two of her favourite games: one is to bring me a ball so I can throw it and she can watch it bounce, retrieve it and repeat. The second is for her to lift a ball up over her head and drop it behind her, at which point she puts on her biggest smile and starts clapping her hands until everyone else does the same. So, there you have it. We have tonnes of toys that have been given to us that she does love. We have so many books that, even when she does start speaking and reading English, she probably wouldn't get through them in a week. We have movies that will enrapture her, at least until she nods off. Nothing, however, has kept her attention like playing with a ball. Back to last week: I sat down in our living room armchair after feeding Mary Jane, then myself, then seeing to bath time and was looking forward to relaxing for a few minutes. Mary Jane had other plans, and tried to grab the shiny green ball (my apple) from my hand before I told her no. She kept staring at me, hoping I would throw the ball. Hoping to convince her that it wasn't a ball, I took a giant bite out of it, showing her the white flesh of the apple under the green skin. My plan, however, didn't pay off as my daughter looked at me, for what is probably the first time, with something on the verge of disbelief mixed with disgust. Instead of seeing the Granny Smith wasn't a ball, I can only imagine she deduced that I had taken one of her favourite kind of toys and taken a giant bite out of it. After the disbelief and disgust faded from her face, she walked away from me and sat on the floor. Soon enough, Jeopardy was on and, like every good Canadian, Mary Jane can't help but listen when fellow Canuck Alex Trebek talks. I had put the entire incident out of my mind when she started walking and playing with some of her other toys. I figured she had forgotten all about it thanks to the lights and sounds that come out of the toys she was playing with. Unfortunately for one toy, I was wrong. Apparently, the image of me biting into a shiny ball was burned into her mind and she just couldn't put it behind her. It wasn't long before I saw her pick up a smaller ball and start playing with it and I figured she must have also put the incident behind her. Soon after, however, with her back turned to me, I heard her make a noise that could only be described as smelling skunk for the first time. She turned around, tongue out and hands out, and looked at me with the greatest (and most serious) look of concern I've ever seen on such a tiny face and, well, see for yourself: In case it isn't apparent, Mary Jane had decided if daddy could take a bite out of a shiny green ball, she could take a bite out of a red squishy ball. Suffice to say, she discovered the material wasn't quite as tasty as a Granny Smith and that was before I dove across the room to fish it out of her mouth. Hopefully, that taste will remain with her and stop her from trying to take a bite out of any other toys. A% Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense It's finally here As we have recounted at The Citizen here in numerous forms in recent weeks and months, it has been a long road towards the 100th International Plowing Match (IPM) in Walton this week. It really struck me through a pair of projects just how long a process it's been to get to here. First, IPM Secretary Lynne Godkin asked The Citizen to be a contributor to a commemorative book on the IPM that is planned for release this winter. With The Citizen covering events pertaining to this IPM spanning back to March of 2012, it made sense that we would be tapped to help tell the story. To make that happen, however, reporter Denny Scott and I had to comb through our archives, very literally just searching for any story with "IPM" in it and then editing the list down to the important entries. That first phase of the process would then lead nicely into the second phase of the project, which was generating 52 pages of interesting and meaningful stories for our Salute to the IPM, which went out to all of Huron County last week. We have been covering the story for those five years, speaking with representatives and heralding new developments at the IPM. Whether it was the inclusion of the Brussels Fall Fair or the Huron County Federation of Agriculture's food court or the Huron County Barn Quilt Trail, we have written about them. But it has been those behind the IPM who have been our focus in the last year and no doubt they feel the same way we do, thinking they can't believe it's actually here. The IPM was always such a great idea. It existed as an amazing event in all of our minds and in the dreams of many. But now, it's a real event that's happening. I, personally, have never before attended an IPM. This will be my first. And, in a way, I count myself lucky that this will be my first. This year, and all the work we've done to count down to the IPM, will stick in my mind for years to come as a sense of pride and accomplishment. Now, I can only hope the same is true for the IPM and those who have worked so hard to make it a reality. Of course there are factors beyond everyone's control. First and foremost is the weather. God has been hearing prayers for good weather this week for five years now and no doubt they've intensified in recent months. We've spent the last nine months telling stories about the people behind the IPM, not just writing about events and schedules and musical acts. The volunteers who have worked so hard to make this event a success are all great people and they have given so much of themselves. Getting to know them, you can't help but want the IPM to be a success. Sure, you want Huron County's investment in the IPM to pay off and you want local businesses and service clubs and sports teams to benefit from the tens of thousands of people who will visit the IPM this week, but for me and Denny we want to see it succeed for the people we've met along the way. These people, from Chair Jacquie Bishop all the way down to students devoting their volunteer hours, all have such a beautiful and simple motivation behind wanting the event to be a success — motivation beyond money or power or prestige — they want to show off their community, they want to put their way of life on stage and they want people to remember having a good time in Huron County, all for the modest salary of nothing. Their motivation is clear and their hearts are pure. Best of luck to all for a great IPM.