A Generational-Digital Diatribe: Still, Don’t Be Afraid to Pet the Dinosaur (aka “Dinos & Digits”)

Mark Gorkin, LCSW ("The Stress Doc") Updated: Nov 4th 2013

Frankly, it's time for the Stress Doc™ to address the Generational-Digital Divide - less with a Resiliency Rap and more a Resiliency Rant…with a "Psychohumorist's"™ touch, naturally:

A Generational-Digital Diatribe:
Still, Don't Be Afraid to Pet the Dinosaur

The digital world is moving too fast
You think it's funny…we'll see who laughs last.
Remember, the past ain't over…it's not even past!
So says acclaimed author, one William Faulkner.

We're all caught up in a TNT World -
Excited by Time-Numbers-Technology
Doesn't take a degree in psychology…
To see many spinning out of control
Madly juggling work-life and family goals.

So little time for sleeping in bed when
Trapped in that 3-D - Driven-Distracted & Disruptive - World Wide Web!
Where everything happens or is expected RIGHT NOW!

Don't have a cow…better to confess:
Is it a shame: when "doing more with less" only means more techno-stress?
Is it a game: when the media-video scene turns you "lean and MEAN?"
What is the frame: a time of breakthroughs or more a time for breakdown?
Still in this Present Shock world…please don't be blue:
I've got some Stress Doc Poetic Shock Therapy for you!

Let's begin with this Generational Divide?
OK, I'm the turtle; the Gens are the hare
They're always racing…but why and to where?
Of course, with a smart phone ever-glued to their ear.

And those short cut acronyms…geez, what a crock
My poor old English teach…the last I looked, still in anaphylactic shock!
Twitter, apps, Instagrams, come on, what's next?
It used to be "Safe Sex," now it's Practice Safe Text!

Let me ask… When were you born:
Before or after the Net Age dawned?
Why do I care? It's red-state/blue-state warfare out there -
"Internet Immigrants vs. Internet Natives," one tech expert called it.
My label: It's the battle of the Dinos vs. the Digits

Dinos and Digits, each gives me the fidgets
Digits and Dinos, they both can be whinos!

My first beef, and I'm not alone: these darn Digits won't talk on the phone;
There's just one way to connect - Text! And more Text!
Hey, when I was growing up, someone "all thumbs" was a clod
Today you're a whiz kid….that doesn't seem odd?

Yet you're also a leper with status that's brittle
With a smart phone lacking the right apps and whistles.
Here's the sad truth: Life can be tough
When you're smart phone just ain't quite smart enough!

Now a conflict with a colleague, just two doors or cubes away
Sparks Dirty Harry fantasies…Go ahead, make my day!
Forget about walking down the hall or aisle
Just put on that mask with a toxic smile.
No need for a word; fire away on that killer keyboard.

When the "e" in email stands for "escape"
Go blast that e-rocket fueled by sour grapes.
Be honest, when I hear that whistle:
Are you sending an e-mail or launching an e-missile?

Who needs to be civil when you're invisible.
Technical efficiency trumps dignity and empathy.
It's easy with "tough guy or gal" anonymity!
Turn smoldering anger on a foe or stranger:
You're livin large on the safe edge of danger.
So "talk thumb trash" and bully; "be happy, don't worry"…
Having an avatar means never being sorry.

Okay, three hundred inbox emails are screaming
Forget about thinking…your brain is exploding
Out of the box…perhaps it's time for Cyber Detox?
Well at least it's not PTSD; more PTDS:
Post-Technological Deluge Stress!

Dinos and Digits, there's got to be limits
Digits and Dinos…the fate of White Rhinos?

Mark Gorkin, the Stress Doc ™, acclaimed Keynote and Kickoff Speaker, Webinar Presenter, Retreat Leader and Motivational Humorist, is the author of Practice Safe Stress and The Four Faces of Anger. A former Stress & Violence Prevention consultant for the US Postal Service, the Doc leads highly interactive, innovative and inspiring programs for corporations and government agencies, including the US Military, on stress resiliency/burnout prevention through humor, change and conflict management, generational communication, and 3 "R" -- Responsible, Resilient & Risk-Taking -- leadership-partnership team building. Email stressdoc@aol.com for his popular free newsletter & info on speaking programs. Check out his popular website -- www.stressdoc.com -- called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR). Stress Doc Mantra: "Think out of the box, perform outside the curve (the Bell Curve) and be out-rage-ous!"

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