Technology and Tinfoil.

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New technology scares people sometimes. My grandpa told me a story about his dad Charles Marion Townsend also known as Jonas. Jonas had a fear of talking in front of the TV. 


In our technology drenched existence, we have to worry about credit scores, passwords, and PIN numbers being stolen. We can’t keep the passwords on a card in our wallet or purse. That’s where the credit cards are. The camera on you computer can be turned on remotely. You have to keep on step ahead of criminals these days by changing passwords often. 


We’ve also been warned about using the same password more than once. The information highway has a lot of bandits waiting in the shadows. They could steal you account information and ruin you financially. 


But my great grandpa was weary of technology for another reason. It was in the sixties, and television was still relatively new to most homes.  


Jonas had spent most of his life without a television set. He was from the radio generation and probably listened to Gun smoke on the radio before it became a beloved television series. 


But what made an old man Leary of a television set?  They could hear what you were saying. Jonas asked someone in the house what time it was. The TV announcer popped on the screen at that moment and said something like, “The time is 6:52.”  


From that day forward, my great grandpa would not have a personal conversation in front of the television.  If he were alive today, he’d probably be wearing a tin foil hat.

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