48 Hours of Abstinence

Dates Completed: Thursday, April 21, 2011@ 11:30 p.m. to Sunday, April 24, 2011@ 12:30 a.m. (Approximately 49 hours)

This abstinence assignment didn’t seem to be that intimidating when I was introduced to it at the beginning of the semester. Really, how hard could it be to go without digital tech for two days? I mean a good portion of that is dedicated to sleep, anyway, so I am really only looking at 32 hours of abstinence time if I get 2 full nights of sleep. With that said, though, I planned ahead for the two days that I would use for this assignment. For several months I had been planning on attending a firearm training school located in the middle of the desert near Pahrump, Nevada. Having previously attending this school I was aware that there is barely electricity available, let alone Wi-Fi and 3G cell-service capable of connecting my Droid X to the internet.

Thursday night I turned off my laptop, iPod Touch, and Droid X with no intention of using them over the next two days. I did pack my Smartphone…it seems that at a remote location in the middle of the Nevada desert with over 200 people carrying and shooting assorted firearms, there is a chance of an accident. I assured myself that this probably wouldn’t happen, but if something did, I would want to call my wife. This would be the only reason I would compromise the assignment: if a Life Flight transport would have been necessary. I suppose that would have been a good enough reason.

After waking up early on Friday at 5:00 in the morning to a traditional alarm clock set to a local radio station, I did not reach for my iPod Touch to check local weather, email, or post to my Facebook something along the lines of, “Going to Front Sight to shoot guns!! WOO HOO!!” In fact, I didn’t even make a post on my wall to let my Farmville friends know that I was going to be gone for the weekend. Luckily my cabbage field didn’t suffer…luckily, I don’t actually play Farmville. No post was made to show a technology blackout was going to ensue…hopefully my family and friends wouldn’t grow concerned and presume I was dead.

For the trip down to Pahrump, I resorted to local radio, again, to keep me awake for the early morning drive. I considered my ancient Sony Mini-Disc player that I had used for the better part of the late 90s and early 2000s, but opted not to because some of the music was digitally transferred from CDs to the disc…I considered this to be too close to using an iPod, so I opted not to take it. Luckily I had driven the same route several times in the past and the traffic wasn't terrible for a Friday morning through Las Vegas to Pahrump. I didn't have the luxury of the in-vehicle navigation provided by my smartphone, so if I did get lost, I wouldn't have anything or anyone to blame, but myself.

Once we reached the training school, the lack of technology wasn't an issue because my attention was focused on shooting and listening to the instructors. One of my friends joked that my upgraded GLOCK pistol was too technologically advanced to justify using during my 48 hours of abstinence. He suggested an old flint-lock pistol or at least an old western six-shot revolver. Luckily I didn't utilize my Corner Shot weapon system with the LCD screen and camera used to shoot around corners—no digital tech was present. Although the hot, sunny day and the abnormally large classes catered to extra-long lines between shooting drills, I didn't miss my technology. Instead I paid attention to the basics of accurate shooting: smooth, consistent trigger pull, anticipation of the break, and a hard focus on the front sight. I didn't need a Youtube video in front of me to practice those skills effectively. During one of the classroom lectures, I noticed a considerable number of people checking emails, texts, and watching movies on their iPhones, iPads, and other digital devices. Surprisingly I didn't look at them longingly like starving missionaries stare at a baggy of Fruit Loops in Sacrament meeting on fast Sunday. I even made the comment to one of my friends: "You are all slaves," like I was the new authority and expert in giving up something for the betterment of myself. I believe he was watching the Rebecca Black video, Friday, when I made that statement to him.

While most of the time during the 48 hours was spent shooting, or at least waiting to shoot, I hardly noticed my lack of tech. I had several slips when I wanted to prove something to my friends about useless trivia and said, "Wait, let me Goog…oops." No portal to Google meant I had to rely on the resin left in my short term memory to answer those tough questions that pertained to the Simpsons, the base price for the Mercedes S600 and other ultra-important pop-culture bits of info.

Really, the only thing I really wanted to do was call my wife and kids for the night that I was away from them. The hotel room did have a landline telephone, but a credit card on file, pin numbers, my social security number, mother's maiden name, and the birth-right of my firstborn son seemed a little steep in regards to what was required in order to use it. I chose to go one night without talking to them.

The 48 hours ended with me arriving home late Saturday night to an empty house—no wife or kids. Apparently I had greatly miscalculated the importance of talking to my wife on the phone…or maybe she doubted my iron will and my ability to give up technology for two days. Either way, we were both unsure what the other was doing for Easter Sunday. Luckily I was able to unpack, do some laundry, and clean up long enough for my 48 hour experiment to come to an end. I even noticed I went an extra, whole hour. I will admit, as soon as the time was up, I did call my wife on my phone, even though it was 1:00 A.M. She was still awake…barely…but was relieved to know that my lack of calling was not because I wasn't able to talk anymore. I just completed my assignment diligently.

When I hung up the phone with her, I felt a little sad—almost depressed—that I went that long only to jump right back into my habits. I probably would have made a terrible recovering alcoholic. Also, for the record, I didn't check my email or Facebook until the following Sunday afternoon.

This was a good assignment to test how dependent I have become to digital technology. Understandably, in the middle of the Nevada desert, I didn't miss my gadgets because I was preoccupied with other activities. I planned ahead, knowing that. Had I forced myself to give up the digi-tech during two average days with work and school, it would have been a more difficult task. I don't think I could complete a homework assignment without my laptop. My handwriting is atrocious and the little red spell-check squiggly line under my misspelled words is not a standard feature with a pen and paper, I've remembered. Although not totally impossible, I have grown accustomed to the conveniences that digital technology provides. If someone accidentally slipped and bumped the mythical internet-kill-switch, or if Tyler Durden ever was successful in sending society back to the stone-age, I could probably make an exception and transition back to the old ways…until then (and ONLY then) I am quite content being a happy user and consumer of digital technology.