In the early nineteenth century city of Nottingham in England, working conditions for working men and women were barely human.  In a effort to gain negotiating strength for possible unionization talks with the textile industry, workers began destroying machinery.  When violence broke out, the mill owners began shooting the workers, and the rebellion from 1811-1816 was finally put down by military force.  The workers became known as Luddites.  While their motivation was to unionize and improve their working condition, their name has become synonymous to anybody opposed to increased industrialization or technology.

After a recent misadventure in the mysterious and treacherous world of software, I became divorced from my computer calendar.  As one of those jerks who made others wait in line when checking out of the dentist’s office, so I could enter the next appointment into my phone, I suffered immediate withdrawal pains without my computer calendar.

Yes, I know that our electronic calendars spy on us, which is creepy.  Who cares if I get a haircut every 4.17 weeks?  Go ahead, enter into your calendar that you’re traveling to Kansas City in July.  You’ll start getting hotel advertisements in Kansas City as the date approaches.  But, I also know that calendars have been a disappointment to “data-gatherers” like Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc.  If it has been a disappointment to them, then it is probably safer for us to use.

My late mother always encouraged me to make a New Year’s Resolution each year, in order “to become a better person.”  So, I think my 2018 resolution will be to rediscover my inner-Luddite and to return to using a pocket calendar, foregoing my computer calendar.  I bought it last night and won’t ever suffer those withdrawal pains again!