Trials and Tribulations of Wi-Fi in the Modern Age

If you’re taking a college course chances are you are going to have some sort of online component; if you’re like me, this presents a problem. Not only because I am not the most tech savvy but also because my Wi-Fi at my family home, where I live, is a temperamental brat.

In the living room and all of its distractions is where the Wi-Fi is always the strongest and most reliable. In the kitchen, where my lovely family spends most of their time and offer their own diversions, the Wi-Fi is kind enough to have a small, reliable presence in my computer but again, my very entertaining family makes it difficult to get anything done.

Then there is my bedroom: wonderful queen-sized bed, tons of fuzzy blankets, a wealth of pillows, windows on two different walls to allow for fresh air and sunlight (a commodity that is not to be taken lightly in the interior), art and colorful bedding help to inspire, and a very exquisite laptop at my disposal. All the features of a perfect study area for someone like me. The only downfall? The one thing that could allow me to connect with the outside world, attain resources that will help my GPA soar above the clouds and get my assignments done not only ahead of time but also be ripe with creativity not inspired by other locations, is teasingly absent.

When I say “teasingly” I mean it. The Wi-Fi has a mind of its own and it is set out to destroy me! The Wi-Fi will, at first, be timid in showing its presence. First alerting me that it’s not quite there with a small yellow triangle with an exclamation point to let me know that something is not totally right, only to disappear and reassure me that everything is fine with the appearance of a healthy connection. In my naïve bliss, I double click on the Google Chrome Icon with studious anticipation. And then what happens? The suspense from the spinning blue load icon dwindles your faith in the Age of Computers. You push the thought from your mind… Surely I have reliable connection, it has worked in every other room in the house.

Finally, it happens. A small, pixelated dinosaur pops up on your screen with a message of sheer betrayal. “UNABLE TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET” Denial fills you. It must be fluke, I exit the window and double click that Google icon again with suspicious hope, only for those hopes to be crushed once again. It must be a mistake, denial still going strong. I start to wonder if the Internet is unable to connect or just unwilling. In a fit of madness, I close and double click, close and double click over and over again. Only to discover that the Wi-Fi connection icon has an evil little “x” on it, indicating what I knew in my heart to be true, my connection is lost.

I put on a brave face, I haven’t lost yet. I click on the Wi-Fi icon with determination, hoping I can trick it into thinking I know what I’m doing and it will give up and connect with ease, a valiant surrender. But alas, I was outwitted. I sat defeated and frustrated. Taunted by my Wi-Fi and ready to give up on the whole idea of homework, and classes, and graduation and basically my whole future.

After some brief soul-searching, I decided that my mother did not raise a quitter. I begrudgingly packed up all of my study material in an awkward pile and shuffled to the kitchen and all of its distractions. I hunkered down, blanket around my shoulders like a cape to give me an extra edge and conjured up some razor-sharp focus on my laptop. Resisting the urge to pop my head up above my computer screen, much like a meerkat, at the sound of my parents’ intriguing banter and lively conversation, I probably came off as rude in the process but after a handful of hours I finished my homework, proud and exhausted. My Wi-Fi may have won the battle, but that intangible force would not keep me from earning what I have worked too long and so hard to achieve. I will win this war.

Until next time, dear reader, don’t let Wi-Fi run your life.