To the Band of Brothers: April 16, 2021

Good morning!

I know I run the risk of sounding like an old man, but I am amazed at how cell phones have changed the way we live. They've been such an important part of our lives and for so long, that old people like your parents (and me of course) forget how it used to be. Today, from the office of the Director of Communications, I can send a text message to every man, woman, and child associated with Belen Jesuit about anything I want. That's amazing.

Here is the most common example. There's a school-wide Mass tomorrow and you have to come in your gala uniform. The text goes out in the afternoon reminding you and your parents of that. Thanks to that text, we avoid having a parent pull into Belen the next morning and notice all the kids in gala uniforms and his or her son is wearing his PE shorts and shirt because on Fridays, physical education is his first class.

The texting thing helps avoid the awkward and possibly violent conversation with a young teenage boy who, that early in the morning, doesn't even remember what street he lives on. The texting helps to keep the young man from rushing to the lost and found room, sifting through jackets some poor little sixth graders lost at the beginning of the year and trying violently to fit into one. It avoids having the student spend the whole time at Mass hiding his blue pants so that no disciplinarian, teacher, or administrator sees him.

Now, don't be scandalized, but I am of the opinion that in this great age of information we are less, or at least more poorly, informed. I think we have grown to rely so much on instant access to information that we feel we don't have to retain it. We have grown unaccustomed to making the effort. When I was a kid, since we didn't have cell phones or the internet, we had to remember everything. We had to be on top of things if we wanted to survive. We had to be sure to say what we needed to say when the person was with us, or fork out a quarter to use a payphone and hope the other person was at home or in the office.

In my day we had something called collect calls. This seems like 100 years ago, but there were actually days when you could find a payphone on every corner. You would pick up the receiver and ask the operator to make a call for you because you didn't have any money. The person you were calling would respond and was asked if they were willing to accept the charges of a collect call. My mother and I had a system. When I needed to get picked up from school after practice or a meeting, I would call collect. When the operator asked my mom if she would accept the call, she would say "no." That way, my mother was warned I was ready to go and we kept a quarter in our pockets.

Well, those days are definitely over. We don't need those cheap tricks anymore. The fact is, cell phones are here to stay and, ultimately, probably cheaper than all the quarters necessary for a payphone. The technology is here. The good thing is to keep using it the right way for the good of the school.

Auspice Maria