First World Privileged Fatigue

Bane or blessing?

I was in awe as I read my aunt’s journal in which she recounts growing up on a farm in Iowa in the early 1900s. These people worked hard but had time for education, music lessons, and social events. As I battled the internet, unable to connect to research and online tools, anxiety and frustration grew until I gave in and transported my equipment indoors.

I continued working hard, falling into Google rabbit holes, my keystrokes serving as a machete as I hacked my way through ads and inaccurate AI summaries. Taking a break, I checked email and was invited to visit a healthcare patient portal, one of many since physicians can’t agree on one. Too many attempts to log in froze me out. Another site didn’t recognize my credentials and suggested I call the office. It was Saturday. No one was there.

By the way, what happened to my Lands End order? I followed the tracking number to find that almost two weeks ago, Incomplete address information may delay delivery. We are attempting to update this information. Another AI chat, another phone tree. A pleasant young woman with heavy but intelligible accent confirmed the address and disappeared, leaving behind a soundtrack of music of indeterminate genre and then a transfer to the Big Boss who promised to send out a new order.  

Needing to pay a small fee through Zelle, I opened the bank app only to be rebuffed. The friendly chat box guided me in circles. The AI phone tree kindly ignored my expletives before connecting me with a friendly, helpful young man who talked me into the site. We bade each other a good day, and I logged into the app, abruptly met with the message: error loading accounts. Another jaunt through the AI phone tree, a little easier since I had cleared the path earlier, and I connected with a friendly, helpful young woman. I say young, they sounded young, their voices not warbling like mine. She earned her pay: toggling between me, her cheat sheet, and tech to figure out what was wrong and set it right. Alas, I could not use Zelle from my phone because I had not been the primary holder of the online account.

Exhausted, I looked forward to relaxing at the Met Encore. There is no need to buy tickets ahead for these events: the auditorium is always nearly empty. But the theater kiosk reported the show sold out. Another wait in a line: because of technical issues the auditorium was closed and the show canceled. Michelle and I went to a wine bar.

Today Mike is at his computer fighting with the Medicare and supplement and physician sites, attempting to reconcile charges. I stand by to offer access codes pinged to my phone. Honestly, how does anyone hack accounts? I will now tackle posting this blog.

My ancestors were physically exhausted. They probably slept well. I am mentally fatigued and don’t sleep so well. What price we pay for privilege.