The Joys of the Internet
What did we ever do without the internet?
I didn’t even get a computer until after I was married. I had some friends in high school who had computers and they came to school with their reports printed out on continuous feed paper with those strips of holey paper on the edge. They all had the same funny computer font. I just handed in pages and pages of ruled paper carefully handwritten.
I remember when we first got internet access, well over 10 years ago. We started with AOL which very happily told us "You’ve Got Mail!" every time we signed on. Like most email newbies, we forwarded each and every joke and warning we received to our entire address book. We learned to value of BCC, thus protecting our friends’ email addresses from being seen by the entire world as the mail continued to be forwarded. Not to mention those well intentioned people who don’t understand that "Reply All" will send their reply to every one. One of my friends once sent two or three emails out with recent pictures of their family. Some poor soul on their list kept hitting "Reply All" and letting us all in on some rather interesting comments about Aunt Martha. "K – loved the pictures, the girls are getting so big! What’s wrong with Aunt Martha? She’s been ‘off’ the last few weeks." I finally replied to this person, letting her know that she was sending email to everyone on K’s list. I never heard from her again. I hope Aunt Martha wasn’t getting those emails, too.
One of the first internet searches I did was after seeing "Les Miserables." I asked dh, History Buff and Keeper of Useless Knowledge, if the events were true. He said, no, the French Revolution did not start like that. I didn’t believe him, it seemed like a true story. So I went home and did an internet search. Turns out, he was right, the French Revolution did not start as depicted in Les Miz. But the events in Les Miz are not about the French Revolution, and Victor Hugo was indeed writing about a true, but rather minor event in French history. Seems the French liked a good riot even then.
So just what did we do before Al Gore’s Internet? What if I needed to find out how to keep algae from growing in my fountain? Now, with the help of Google, 10 minutes and a couple of clicks later, algae prevention and a new submersible pump are on their way to cure my fountain quandries. It’s a beautiful thing.
And how in the world would I have ever started homeschooling? Library books can be helpful, but only if you have a good library. How would I have found quite so many educational philosophies and all those curriculum companies?
I never go out shopping any more. Loading 3 children into the car, having 2 of them driving me to distraction with their talking, negotiating DC Beltway traffic, trying to get home before nap time – forget it! Click, click, click from the comfort of my own home, a comforting cup of chai in my other hand, baby happily asleep upstairs – and anything I could ever want or need is available to me. Beautiful yarns for knitting, rubber stamps and supplies, computer programs, personalized return address labels, clothes, even food – they all have arrived at my home in the last few months. Even better – homeschooling materials! They are on a Fed Ex truck even as I type, out for delivery today. 
Granted, maybe my house would be a bit neater without the internet. But then again, maybe not.
I’m with you, Lorri!