A Generational-Digital Diatribe: Still, Don’t Be Afraid to Pet the Dinosaur (aka "Dinos and Digiits")

Why does the digital world spin so fast?
Why can't I simply hold on to the past?
Facebook, tweeting, smart apps...oh what's next?
It’s no longer "Safe Stress" ™…it’s "Practice Safe Text"!!

I am the turtle; the Gens are the hare
They’re always racing but who knows to where?
Those short cut acronyms…geez, what a crock
My poor English teach…in anaphylactic shock!

And do you use email to settle a score
With that mortal colleague residing next door?
The "e" in email – your Face-2-Face "escape"
Go blast that e-rocket fueled by sour grapes.

Okay, the three hundred messages that for you await
May have something to do with your volatile state.
Does always being wired make you real tired?
Or are you real tired of always being so wired?

Don’t blame the company; they’re just doing their best
In getting the troops to "Do More with Less."
It’s not PTSD but PTDS –
Post-Technological Deluge Stress!

Dinos and Digits, both give me the fidgets
Digits and Dinos, they sure can be whinos!

Smoldering anger, the anonymous stranger

Why not live large on the edge of danger:
Talk "thumb trash" and bully; "be happy, don’t worry"…
Having an avatar means never being sorry.

Hey, it's a multi-tasking age

Where ADHD is all of the rage.
When instant gratification seems a delay...
BOREDOM!  ASAP:  Start texting away.

With all things wireless, you're always on board
Alas, still tied to that e-umbilical cord?
Can't use your phone or get online...
Blood pressure PANIC surges most every time.

It's "Privacy vs. Piracy"; we're under viral attack.
And now identity theft from the neighborhood hack.
Even big Uncle Sam cannot safely "hold em"
Playing NSA Poker with one Mr. Snowden.

Why do these young guns keep talking so fast?
And spelling, of course, now a thing of the past.
Or when presenting – a web session or on a Skype phone
Please, an occasional pause…don’t just drone on an on.

Dinos and Digits can be mental widgets
Digits and Dinos, like spoiled bambinos

Younger folks say "inclusion," a trophy for all

Forming an identity that’s off the Facebook Wall.
When the grizzled gens want winners not mere pretenders –
One must divide Alphas from those bleeding heart losers.

Of course, many leaders don’t have a clue

For an e-conference, just what do you do?
Without live eyes and bodies keeping safe solid ground
"Little Napoleons" start throwing their own head-weight around.

And for those folks who both drive and talk

As if life is but one stroll in the park.
Or sleepwalk and text…and what do they expect?
Either I clear a path or I’m the pain in the neck.

Believe me; it wouldn’t take much of a dare

To shove that damn phone right up their…hot air!
Alas, I’m sounding more and more like a grouch
Maybe what's needed is another approach.

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

A crusade:  "Save the Analog Whales"…Is that asking too much?

But first, lure digital hare-brains from their wired world hutch.
Pull heads out of smart phones; break FOMO** media habits.
(Though "Get a Life" Coaching is for "Dinos," not just "Digits.")

Of course, don't go cold turkey with a cyber-addiction...
Play "Past Life Regression" ® in a “calmer shooter” or Kama Sutra *** position.
Find a virtual guru, one who's no techno slouch...now

Plug-and-play (if not hug-and-pay) on that 3-D "smart couch."

Well, let me reach closure, before I "break bad"
On those always bragging about their iPad.
Consider my words, they are pretty rad:
I truly don’t mean to sound unkind…
Keep your iPad; I prefer an I-Mind!

**  FOMO

***  (a sexual position illustrated by the ancient Indian text; personal preference)


© Mark Gorkin  2013
Shrink Rap Productions

Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a national keynote and webinar speaker and "Motivational Humorist & Team Communication Catalyst" known for his interactive, inspiring and FUN programs for both government agencies and major corporations.  A training and Critical Incident/Grief Intervention Consultant for the National EAP/Wellness Company, Business Health Services in Baltimore, MD, the Doc has also led “Stress, Team Building and Humor” programs for various branches of the Armed Services.  Mark, a former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, is the author of Practice Safe Stress and of The Four Faces of Anger.  See his award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" -- www.stressdoc.com -- called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR).  For more info on the Doc's programs or to receive his free e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com.