Not that it’s important anyway.
Alright, first thing’s first, let me introduce myself. I am a single young urbanite, with a job that I love, having a blast in urban Cebu. I am in my mid twenties, an Economics degree holder; with magazine publishing experience under my belt. I am known to be a Coke addict [the beverage, alright?], and I can’t go through the day functioning normally if I don’t have my ice cold glass of Coca Cola. I love animals, all but creatures of the reptilian kind (they are demons in the flesh!). I love my Mother and she wanted me to stay with her in the province, but I found it too boring after life in the university and the metropolis. I was stubborn and just had to move to the city.
Speaking of being stubborn [and being way off track], work has been much affected by the recent quake in Taiwan. Earlier, our internet connection’s been so erratic it took hours to send a single one worded email. FTP, teleconferencing, VOIP, and other web-based applications are a pain in the a** thanks to the “stubborn” internet connection. Technology is supposed to be just a tool for us, but we suddenly find ourselves almost absolutely reliant on the availability of the internet.
I was whining in my head and was inches away from losing it when a colleague sent me a link of a news article that she thought might help me. “Another link?! Are you kidding me?!” I grumbled. The page showed up (albeit after a few hours), nonetheless. It was an article about the earthquake and how it affected the internet connection in the Asia Pacific. According to the report, the earthquake destroyed seven of nine fiber optic cables that were wired from an ISP in Taiwan, forcing millions of internet users in the Asia Pacific to fight for the remaining bandwidth supported by the two enduring cables. China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and even Australia experienced internet downtime. I could only imagine the pressure on the ISP that was responsible for the connection!
It has been equally difficult for the ISP’s cable guys/divers to mend the damages since the ruptured parts are located in perilous, shark-infested parts of the ocean (plus the harsh winds and tall waves haven’t been that cooperative either). “Yikes! Sharks!” I whispered under my breath as continued reading the article. “People actually risk their lives to get these wires fixed?” I thought. Who are these guys? Do they realize they’re saving hundreds of thousands of high-end jobs in this planet? And do yuppies like me realize that? Instead of grunting and whining, do they actually realize their companies can go bankrupt overnight, just because of bad internet connection?
And then it dawned to me - we are all getting closer to being absolutely dependent on the internet. A simple mild natural phenomenon happens at the right time and place, and boom! Just like that, urban life becomes unstable. Senior citizens who come from the provinces who travel to the city just to get their monthly stipend won’t be having supper tonight because the bank has gone offline. Young professionals who live paycheck to paycheck won’t have date money this weekend because ATM machines are down. Internet shops can’t open for business because the line is dead. A huge number of bills won’t be paid because online banking is down. BPO clients back out after learning about the situation while BPO employees get the pink slip because companies shut down. Imagine what happens to the lives of the staff and their families.
Thinking how vulnerable we are makes me want to go retro and rural. Build a small self-sufficient farm maybe. That’s it: simple and independent.
Then again, maybe not… I don't think I can stand getting callous on my hands. Besides, it would be too boring.
