It's No Fun Without The Internet

The first time I used internet service was when I was in college. As a part of one of our classes, we had to research teaching ideas online. At that time, it was pretty limited. The service was provided only to colleges and universities. It was all in text – there were no pictures or other media. There were a few sites to choose from and we had to try to find something original. As I began the research, I fell in love. It was exciting to find information through the computer. I was hooked.

I went home that day and looked through the phone book. I found an internet service and called them to have it set up at my house as soon as possible. I was told that it wasn’t available to the general public yet, and it might not ever be. That changed fairly quickly – by the early nineties internet was available to everyone. That was the beginning of my addiction to the internet.

I was enthralled with the idea of getting information from people all over the world. It was exciting to know that I could “talk” over the internet to people clear across the country – or the world. I know we had phones back then, and that I could call anyone from anywhere in the world – but this was different. I could get entire articles sent to me on my own computer at home. Up until this time, our computer was used only for games. No one at our house thought it would ever go beyond that. I never thought I would find the world at the end of my fingertips.

Over the years, the internet services improved. We were sending pictures, video, music and much more throughout the world. I found the internet intriguing. I loved researching lesson plans, classroom management styles, recipes, games, and anything else I wanted. I thought it was remarkable that someone else in the world had what I needed and I never had to leave my home to get it.

Up until about five months ago, I had not been without internet service for more than a day or so since that first time I had it hooked up. Five months ago, we decided to cut back on some of our expenses and cut out some of the extras. Internet service was an extra. It was one of the first things to go. I didn’t like the thought of living without internet, but at the time it was the right thing to do.

I still had access to the internet – at work. But at work, we were banned from Facebook and HubPages and other sites. I could still look up lesson plans, but couldn’t publish things on my social media or my HubPages. It felt as if someone had tied my hands and wouldn’t let me loose. I could have taken my computer to any of the hundreds of places that offered free wi-fi, but that meant I had to find the time to do it. And with the cost of gas prices, it was hard to justify the trip to the bookstore just to publish an article or check on my Facebook status.

Luckily I had my smartphone, so I wasn't completely denied access. But it was hard to use the tiny keyboard to do more than make comments on HubPages and the occasional update on Facebook – but it just wasn’t the same. I needed my internet!