TheBanyanTree: Tracking

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Well, it’s early spring in Minnesota, even though it isn’t officially winter
yet.  We’ve had balmy temps in the high 40s, a bit of sun, and finally, some
moisture this week.  It rained, not snowed, and our rain gauge contained ¼
inch of water.

I’ve taken advantage of this great non-northern-like Christmas weather and
finished up my shopping.  For some reason, I thought of CSI and how they
take dust and body parts and contents from someone’s stomach to determined
what they did in their last few moments of life.  I thought another way of
tracking people and that’s how they move their lives using their credit
cards and cell phones.

For example, on a typical Sunday morning I’ll go to the club and workout.
They swipe my card and wa-la! I’m on someone’s report that I was at the
fitness club that day.

After working out, I went to the bank (our bank is open on Sundays, thank
goodness) and made a financial transaction.  Again, the card, and again I
left a mark of where I was and what I was doing.

I stopped and got gas and used my debit card at the pump (what a blessing)
to pay for it.  Then I  did some shopping.  Swipe the card through the cash
register and I was pinged again!

And if someone really wanted to paint the picture of a day in my life, they
could monitor my use of the internet, look at my computer’s tracks to see
what I did on it, see me in traffic cameras, and look at my cell phone
records.  I don’t think we can move through life in anonymous way anymore.
Big Brother is truly watching us, although not quite like in the book 1984,
but almost.

I’m probably one of the few people who don’t get bothered by being
monitored.  No matter how many laws Congress passes about HIPAA and privacy
and stuff, we’re still being watched in a way that’s outside of government,
the Gestapo, and the FBI.  I’m not a terrorist and even though I don’t like
Bush, I’m not a threat to his life.  I’m pretty low key, so I don’t worry
about someone banging on my door at 2:00 am and hauling me off to a dark CIA
prison in another country.

I guess I accept being monitored and tracked just like I accept there will
be no snow for Christmas this year.  I don’t like it, but there it is.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for - I
don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not
having at other times.
~Kate L. Bosher