I'm Tired Of Technology

Dear People That Don't Have Fibromyalgia,

We, the patients that have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome, would like to draw a line in the sand. Collectively we don't have enough energy to deal with the rapid pace technology is advancing at. And while we would never wish for technological genius to slow down, we need to set up some ground rules here because it is getting out of hand.

Now please know we don't love you any less or think you are anything but the wonderful, caring and kind person you always have been. But we simply cannot have the same expectations when it comes to keeping up with our devices. When a text comes in, if the phone is not sitting right next to me, I am highly unlikely to drag my sore ass off the sofa to see who it is, unless I have a dependent or partner not presently home and it could be them. When the house phone rings, as I am struggling to make my way to answer it, I am too slow and the answering machine picks up. You hang up and call the cell phone immediately. Well now I have walked over to the house phone, and hearing the cell phone ring in an entirely other part of the house, I try to make my way there, getting very annoyed. Oops, missed it, right to voicemail. Now if I try and call you back I will go right to voicemail myself because you are now calling the house phone again but at this point I don't really care who you are or what you want and sit down all worn out from running to opposite ends of the house to catch that ringing bastard. So you leave a message, finally. Please know I am very aware you are trying to reach me but I have just given your bouncing phone calls all the energy I have for you today so will call you back another time.

When I finally drag my sorry self over to the computer to check my email, of which there are many messages because that is just how email is, I may be able to get back to you, or not, depending on the level of catastrophe I have to rate this email encounter at. And if I do get back to you and you then get back to me immediately, I really need you to understand I may have completed my dive into my inbox and have moved on to do something more critical to my survival, like cooking food. And Facebook. Ahhhh, Facebook. We really need to chat about that one. You are my "friend", but since I have to spend part of my day farming farms and cooking cookies because to skip it would be to take out the only part of my day that actually gets my mind off my pain, I may not be as up on your posts or returning your messages as quickly as the next person, but I will eventually get to it. When both my physical and mental state allow. If I post on some support page or another and it shows up on my wall, or I happen to mention I feel like I got stuck in the middle of a garbage truck fight, you get all pissy and start telling me what to do to get better. At this point what I need to do to get better is get rid of your pissy opinions. So as you can see this entire...network...is seriously flawed and definitely not Fibro-friendly.

So I may or may not know you have called, texted or emailed. And I may or may not return your chosen method of communication in a timely fashion. Sometimes it can take weeks. Sorry! Sure this is not the first time I have let you down. But this whole calamity, this person on demand mentality, is becoming a huge hindrance and we just can't have any part in it. So please, people that don't have Fibromyalgia, go easy on us. But know that if we actually take the time out of our lives to reach out to you unsolicited, we expect you to pick up on the first ring or return that text or email immediately. For what we have to say to you is very important.

Thanks for joining,

Leah