Tech in the Time of COVID
Charles Yi
My mom is growing up. She got a smartphone five years ago. Since then, she’s been an avid user: taking selfies, using emojis, learning about apps, and exploring the swaths of information now available at her fingertips. I visited home in January and she was sporting an Apple Watch for the first time in her life. My mom was coming of technological age. I was a proud son. Occasionally, she’ll send photos of my brother’s latest culinary creation or link articles she found interesting. The other day, she sent me a Chinese article through WeChat titled, “U.S. Department of Homeland Security Alert,” and it read as follows:
Government warning regarding purchase of UPS uniforms: There has been a huge purchase, $32,000 worth, of United Parcel Services (UPS) uniforms on eBay over the last 30 days. This could represent a serious threat as bogus drivers (terrorists) can drop off anything to anyone with deadly consequences!….Please send to everyone on your list, even if they are friend or foe. We should all be aware! [Signed] Kimberly Bush-Carr, Management Program Specialist, U.S. Dept of Homeland Security, Bureau Customs and Border Protection.
I skimmed it. Sounded concerning, especially in a time when our mantras are social distancing and hand hygiene. Any and all information to help combat COVID-19. Mom was just doing her due diligence and keeping her loved ones safe. I didn’t pay it much attention because I had bigger fish to fry: I needed to get back to my Netflix show.
But the report stayed in the back of mind. I was reminded of it the next day after YouTube asked for the umptenth time if I would like more information about the coronavirus (no, not right now, maybe later). What I looked up instead was that government report. Using my years of accumulated wisdom navigating Google and a few clicks later, I discovered that Ms. Bush-Carr, Management Program Specialist of the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security, had been warning our nation about the impending threat of disguised delivery drivers since 2003.
Reminded me fondly of my middle school days when I used to trust everything on the internet. I let her know. “Thanks for clarifying, honey.” Everyone makes mistakes. She’s just naïve. She’ll learn with experience. She’s growing up in a difficult time, when traditional news media is giving way to sound-bites and click-bait titles. Information gets disseminated at the speed of light for better or worse and is just as easy to fake as it is to verify. Even now in med school, we have workshops on how to spot spam emails. The learning never ends. It’s a delicate balance of reading between the lines, understanding the choice of words, questioning the intended audience, and maintaining skepticism. Double, triple-checking sources. There are probably whole books somewhere teaching the intricacies of navigating the sea of internet information. But I have faith. This is the same woman that read Harry Potter to me every night. The one that taught me how to hold a spatula. The one that showed me how to make friends. Learning the ins and outs of tech take time. She’ll be fine. She is my mom after all.
Charles Yi is a rising MS4 at UMass Medical, planning on applying into Internal Medicine. He is interested in global health, cardiology, and sports medicine. This piece was written as part of the elective, Becoming a Doctor: Reflecting on CCE Year, run by David Hatem, MD.
