Last week while on a trip home from the grocery store, I hit a curb and blew a tire.

Upon pulling over, I immediately felt the panic setting in. Not only did I have two small kids with me, but I also hundreds of dollars worth of groceries in my trunk that needed refrigeration. After running through “what to do next” strategies in my head, it suddenly occurred to me: Wait! I can just press the call button on my rearview mirror and roadside assistance will be here in no time. Next, I accessed the Über App on my iPhone to call a cab and had him take my kids, my husband and the groceries home. Fifteen minutes later a nice gentleman showed up, changed my tire, and sent me on my way.

Fifteen years ago this situation would’ve played out very differently. In fact, during my teenage years I had a blow out on an Interstate Highway en route to my summer lifeguard job. This, of course, was before cell phones were readily available or affordable, so my plan of action was somewhat different. After I pulled over, I had to walk over a mile to the next exit wearing nothing more than a bathing suit and shorts! True story. I was humiliated to say the least. Once I got to the exit, I begged a vendor at a flea market to let me use his phone. He watched me closely, as each minute used was very costly back then. Luckily, my brother answered our landline and told me he would come help. I gave the vendor $5 and hitched a ride with an elderly couple, who promised they wouldn’t kidnap me, back to my car. Several hours later I arrived at work and was greeted by a very angry boss. As a mom now, this story makes me cringe at all the things that could’ve gone so very wrong.

Each day, I read countless articles about how technology is ruining our youth, creating an “I want every thing yesterday” mentality, taking away from real human connections, and making life more difficult. However, I find these accusations to be far from true. I believe technology has given us hope with medical advancements. It has provided opportunities for businesses to grow exponentially. It has connected us to long lost relatives, friends and strangers. Most importantly, it’s given us back time. The last thing I want to do is waste hours of my day on life’s little inconveniences, like flat tires, when I’d much rather be spending that time with my family.

I feel my kids’ generation is quite lucky to be growing up in this age of technological advancement. I love that they’ll never know what it’s like to dial a number on a rotary phone, or have to wait up all night just to record their favorite song off the radio – only to have several seconds of it ruined by a DJ talking. They won’t have to drive to a store to rent a movie and then worry about racking up hundreds of dollars in late fees. They won’t have to carry their entire music collection around in a big heavy case so they can listen to one song at a time on their Walkmans. They’ll never get lost, because they have GPS systems on their phones. Finally, they’ll have all the knowledge in the world available at their fingertips, rather then spending hours in a library searching through card catalogs or having to utilize the Dewy Decimal System.

I, for one, chose to embrace change and advancement, and take solace in knowing my kids will never have to walk down a highway to get help in their bathing suits.

By Holly Rust.

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