It's been so long since I've written a "Gleaning" I've not only forgotten how to post, but it took me a good half hour to figure how to even get here. Like many of us paper-era dinosaurs, I’m somewhat technically challenged.
This morning I was telling a fellow dinaosaur about my formative years in Utah and how the social fabric of the region demands that you are either Mormon or anti-Mormon. I said there was no middle ground for a misfit like me, and that's how I ended up in techno Seattle. He said he was “Technophobic” and that triggered a more recent story inspired by a woman I work closely with in Montreal:
When she and I first met several years ago, she was quick to diminish her computer skills, saying she was "TechnoAmish." I love that term and have to give credit where credit is due. Anyway, shortly after that conversation, I was having some stone work done at our home and a contractor dropped by to give us an estimate. As he was leaving, I asked him for a couple of references. He pulled a stub of a pencil from behind his ear and began patting his pockets for something to write on. I said, “Don’t worry about it now; just shoot me an e-mail.” He said he didn’t use e-mail, providing me with what I thought was a perfect opening: “Oh, you’re TechnoAmish,” I joked. After a pause, he replied without humor, “I was raised Mennonite.” I never did hear back from him—apparently another case of "no middle ground."
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