Technology: Milspouse Friend or Foe?

Over at Spouse Buzz, Army Wife Toddler Mom asked us readers to post comments about what technology means to us. I truly appreciate that Spouse Buzz creates an environment where so many people can voice how they feel. I will admit that I was a little surprised by some of the negative feelings that people had toward technology. That got me thinking back to where I was 6, 8, 12 months ago.

While I do not recall having spent time obsessing over casualty lists, I do now spend quite a bit of time reading blogs about what is going on in Iraq, especially over the last few months. I do remember a time when I could not watch the news because I would be so filled with anxiety if I heard about deploying soldiers. I was in such a bad place then, almost paralyzed by the anxiety of hearing something bad. I did not want to live my life like that so I stopped watching the news and I started getting myself better. By the time my husband left for Iraq a few months later, I was able to start watching news reports about the war, I was able to have deep intellectual discussions about "the mission" with JD, I was able to learn about how we got there and where we were going. All done with the help of the internet.

I do have bad days and sometimes it does seem like I spend "too much" time on the internet reading. But that "too much" time on the internet is usually done out of loneliness rather than out of fear of what I might learn. I understand exactly how much danger my husband is exposed to. And actually learning about what is going on over there, knowing the reality of it, is comforting to me because, as with many things, the imagination is usually worse, far worse, than the reality.

Comfort for me lies in the truth. And technology delivers the truth in big heaping doses daily.