Human Beings Weren't Meant to Stare at a Computer Screen!?!?
A few weeks back I went online to re-order contacts and I got that kiss-of-death email telling me that my prescription had expired and I needed to get a new one. Reluctantly, I picked up the phone and made an appointment.
During the exam, the optometrist and I struck up a conversation and he asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I ran an online business, he rolled his eyes at me. In my head, I was thinking "yea, yea, yea, I know it's not good for my eyes to look at a computer screen 10 hours a day, but what can I do." But that wasn't why he rolled his eyes. He continued to say "Human beings weren't meant to sit in front of a computer all day long." Needless to say that got my brain churning.
Ok buddy, so what exactly were human beings "meant" to do? Sit in a dark room all day looking at people's eyeballs and asking them to read lines off of a chart? Give me a break. I really don't understand the need for people to insult the career choices of others. Is it jealousy? Is it the need to assert themselves as somehow "superior" because they consider their career to be "better"? Or are they just plain insecure and putting down others makes them feel good?
Whatever it is, it seems a bit immature. Considering that I am doing something that I love to do, something that I am truly excited about and passionate to wake up and do each and every day, I can't understand why anyone would question that. I certainly would never be an eye doctor, but I very much respect his decision to become one. Just as it's good for the world to have optometrists, it's also good for the world to have entrepreneurs.
I seem to be getting a lot of those type of comments lately. I'm sure that part of it is that I'm 23, part of it is that I just quit a good job, part of it is that I'm an entrepreneur, and part of it is that my business is online. The thing that makes me sad is that part of it is also a societal problem with respecting other people and treating them with the dignity and respect that they deserve as humans.
Since I wasn't consulted when humans were constructed, I cannot say with 100% certainty what we were "meant" to do. What I can say is that it would be nice if people took the time to learn and understand and respect the decisions that others make in their lives and their careers rather than judging them based on pre-conceived ideals of what people "should" do.
During the exam, the optometrist and I struck up a conversation and he asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I ran an online business, he rolled his eyes at me. In my head, I was thinking "yea, yea, yea, I know it's not good for my eyes to look at a computer screen 10 hours a day, but what can I do." But that wasn't why he rolled his eyes. He continued to say "Human beings weren't meant to sit in front of a computer all day long." Needless to say that got my brain churning.
Ok buddy, so what exactly were human beings "meant" to do? Sit in a dark room all day looking at people's eyeballs and asking them to read lines off of a chart? Give me a break. I really don't understand the need for people to insult the career choices of others. Is it jealousy? Is it the need to assert themselves as somehow "superior" because they consider their career to be "better"? Or are they just plain insecure and putting down others makes them feel good?
Whatever it is, it seems a bit immature. Considering that I am doing something that I love to do, something that I am truly excited about and passionate to wake up and do each and every day, I can't understand why anyone would question that. I certainly would never be an eye doctor, but I very much respect his decision to become one. Just as it's good for the world to have optometrists, it's also good for the world to have entrepreneurs.
I seem to be getting a lot of those type of comments lately. I'm sure that part of it is that I'm 23, part of it is that I just quit a good job, part of it is that I'm an entrepreneur, and part of it is that my business is online. The thing that makes me sad is that part of it is also a societal problem with respecting other people and treating them with the dignity and respect that they deserve as humans.
Since I wasn't consulted when humans were constructed, I cannot say with 100% certainty what we were "meant" to do. What I can say is that it would be nice if people took the time to learn and understand and respect the decisions that others make in their lives and their careers rather than judging them based on pre-conceived ideals of what people "should" do.
posted by Adam McFarland at
3/12/2006 04:22:00 PM
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