MyMusings

TEN GREEN BOTTLES

“Ten green bottles” is a nursery rhyme. I sang it often during my kindergarten days. Most of us did too, right? It goes something like this: ‘’ten green bottles hanging on the wall, ten green bottles hanging on the wall, if one green bottle should accidently fall down, nine green bottles………all the way until no green bottle is left hanging on the wall. These days though, another kind of “ten green bottles” scenario has emerged (only, it is more expensive than purchasing ordinary bottles). I am talking about the computer technology madness. I adapted this rhyme as a way of parallelism because the ten green bottles in our rhyme are similar in color, size, and shape to one another. The similarity does not end there: they follow the same pattern of “falling off the wall”. Not to be pessimistic, but honestly, technology fits this pattern almost perfectly.

You see, few people are unaware of how strong an influence “crowd mentality” can be, so that when individuals copy other people in some way (e.g. in acquiring some new technology), they deceive themselves into thinking that they are doing their “own thing”. You hear comments like “I am just being me”, “It’s what I want to do”, or some other “my thing comment”. Take for example the Blackberry craze. A girl sees another with a BB Z10 and goes ‘oh! I want that phone!’ You wouldn’t believe the lies, deceit, mischief, prank, and what not that goes into getting the said phone. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong in acquiring a Blackberry phone. What I do have a problem with is how easily people allow themselves to be influenced by others and by technology. They seem to forget that today’s hero always becomes tomorrow’s “has been”. That is to say, the newest technology trending today gets pushed down the ladder and becomes old-fashioned as soon as a better one comes along (it is not always better, though) True, change is constant, but the way each person reacts to certain kinds of change should be individual, not imitated. This means, if say the latest Sony Xperia is trending and someone I know has acquired it, I MUSN’T acquire it! Know why? Coz I am not a green bottle, I am a sparkling red jug! It is even more annoying that people fail to understand that marketers are very clever. They use advertisements to convince people that they must have the latest products. They make you feel that since you “deserve the best”; their products will certainly make you feel that you have the best. Young people are most vulnerable to this lie. Some are so obsessed that they go to extremes to acquire a certain new technology.

Consider this true life experience. A young man was so desperate to acquire a tablet computer that he sold one of his kidneys to buy it! (Can you imagine?!) Yeah, people do crazy stuff sometimes. Think too of a young man who views women merely as sex objects because he visits pornographic sites regularly. You know, I could go on and on, but words will fail me. Ultimately, it boils down to the choices we make: how do we use technology? How do we let it affect us? Used properly, we benefit immensely (for instance, while typing this article on a computer, I was being entertained by good music too). On the other hand, when technology is misused or overused, its effects are almost incorrigible. Insomnia, a soiled conscience, failed relationships, bad grades, debts, impatience, competiveness, violent temper are just a few of the effects of technology misuse and overuse. In my opinion, it makes more sense to choose to be different. Being a “green bottle” only accords you second-hand value. But, if you choose to be a sparkling red jug (like me!), it defines you as confident, strong and focused. At least, you wouldn’t easily “fall off the wall”!