The Quora.com post I’ll share below, has soared and took my views and upvotes to a new level for all forms of my social media activities. Within twelve hours, the numbers had soared: 17.5-thousand views and 400-upvotes. Within forty-eight hours of its posting, those numbers doubled and continue to climb. Wow! I love breaking my record! Many viewers signed up to Follow me on Quora.com and on this website. I hope you will, too. I need all the followers, likes, and hits that I can get to climb the ladder of Internet Stardom. First Translation: One reader messaged me and asked permission to translate the post and then translated it into Italian. I was grateful and impressed! In italiano: Risposta di Alessio Renzetti a: A quale tecnologia ti sei abituato con piu’ difficoltà dopo essere uscito di prigione? . This blog post is a modified reproduction of the orginal version posted on Quora.com. To read the Quora version, click the following link: https://www.quora.com/If-you-ve-spent-a-long-time-in-prison-what-technology-did-you-find-hardest-to-adjust-to-when-you-were-released/answer/Wayne-T-Dowdy?ch=99&share=cc938591&srid=x5UbO If you’ve spent a long time in prison, what technology did you find hardest to adjust to when you were released? This may not be the typical answer in response to the question, but it does relate, and it’s my story so I’m posting in on here and as a blog on one of my websites: After leaving the halfway house for my first adventure into the free society, three decades later, on a timed-pass for my first trip to downtown Atlanta, I paid $2.50 to ride the MARTA bus to the train station (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority). I was shocked having to pay $2.50 for the bus fare that used to be much less. The bus arrived at the train station. To enter the train terminal, I attempted to go through a turnstile that wouldn’t open. I looked at a MARTA employee and said, “It won’t work.” “You need to buy a Breeze Card,” she said. “I gotta pay to get in here?” She nodded. I turned took a few steps and glanced around the terminal. I didn’t see a store or anywhere to buy it from, so I said, “Where at?” She pointed to an area where I saw several machines embedded in a wall of the terminal. I stood and gazed at one of the machines and tried to figure out how to use it: Too many buttons and features for a mind that had been exempt from using most technological-creations for the last thirty years! For a few moments I continued to stand and stare at the machine, stressed out and overwhelmed because I couldn’t figure out how to operate it (My stress level had more to do with that than the actual technology involved). I was in a rush because I didn’t want to be late. I had to call in to the halfway house every time I arrived at an approved destination, or risk being put on escape status and returned to prison. I didn’t have time to figure out how to use the Breeze Card Machine, so I looked for help. I saw a man who worked for MARTA and walked up to him and pointed at the machines and then asked, “Do you know how to operate those?” “Sure,” he said and began walking toward the Breeze Card Machine with me. “I’ve been in prison for thirty years and need help.” Moments later, I was on my way to board the train and before the day was over, a woman at another downtown MARTA train station asked me if I knew how to operate the machine so she could buy train fare. “Sure,” I said and then shared the wealth and we were on our way to our separate designations. I’ve adapted well to most technology, as is evident by me having several websites and using cellphones I had never used until August 28, 2018, but that darn Breeze Card Machine was just too much for me to comprehend when feeling like a caveman running around in modern society. Update: I appreciate each response to this answer, all of the upvotes, thousands of views, and a request for permission to translate. The word “Gratitude” doesn’t accurately express the magnitude of my emotions attached to this experience. For those who visited my listed website (straightfromthepen.com) and viewed some of my post, most of which were done before my release, please know my publisher created the blogspot for me, because I had never been online until I went to the halfway house on August 28, 2018. I explained the publication process in “About Straight from the Pen” (straightfromthepen.com/about-your-host). Around mid-December 2018, I began managing my websites, blogs, and book revisions. To say the associated technology is challenging would be an understatement. But, hey, for a Caveman, I’m doing great! Thanks again to each of you for making this a wonderful experience for me. For personal stories by Wayne T. Dowdy, purchase your copy today of Essays & More Straight from the Pen. Paperback ($8.95) or eBook ($2.99) from Amazon.com or from your favorite booksellers. https://www.amazon.com/Essays-More-Straight-Wayne-Dowdy/dp/1502767503
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AuthorAtlanta, Georgia, a city of models & movies. I rode hard & crashed young. Welcome to my life: inspirational, drama, emotional struggles, all defining my character and visions of a new life. Archives
October 2022
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