My wife has a Fitbit, which I believe is an element of persecution in her life. Yesterday she had a full day, but noticed too late that she was 18 steps short of some goal, ruining her record of 37 days in a row of...something. Her loving but stern husband keeps cautioning her that the machine is not that accurate. She lightly pounds her hand in the air while circling the house when reading, to make sure she gets credit for those steps. And if you didn't pound your hand this way...? She likely does not get credit for some steps she takes, and does get credit for some steps that are marginal. Also, there is nothing magical about the numbers. And also again, these are supposed to be for your good, not your harm. Let It Be, says Paul McCartney.
While she acknowledges the intellectual truth of this, it has no effect on her expectations for herself. One only gets gold stars when one actually makes it to the required number. To take credit when that has not happened is a sham, like cheating at solitaire.*
It also persecutes her in the tallying of sleep, where it is similarly approximate. Don't get me started.
The Fitbit is made for Woman; Woman is not made for the Fitbit.
* I cheat at solitaire all the time, BTW. Just sayin'. "But you are only cheating yourself!" comes the cry. "Then why are you involving yourself in this?" I reply.
2 comments:
I suppose you could make "cheating" an extension to the game: How many times do you have to pick out a down-turned card before you finish rolling up the deck? 0=a classical win, and then--the more, the worse the score.
Like golf. Everyone finishes the course, but the score is your number of cheats. The lowest score "wins".
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