IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM
Wednesday, October 1, 2025 by Linda Wood Rondeau

Categories: MUSINGS

Alex Knight on Unsplash">Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

“If you can’t beat ‘em…join ‘em,” my mother always said, the reason she took up bowling lessons. Dad wasn’t going to stop doing the things he loved. She either had to learn new things or go without companionship.

We fear change as much as the humans of the Star Trek NGT feared the Borg. We think we are giving up something intrinsic and uniquely us if we adapt and assimilate.

Years ago, movies were banned by those who feared the infiltration might ruin impressionable minds. While I was in school, movies became a staple in education… audiovisual aids…they were called. Some of the students actually took courses to learn how to operate the devices and how to change reels

Of course, that was before DVDs, streaming, and YouTube.

When the Internet came along, some thought the end was near—visions of evil cyber intelligence taking over the world. That was before AI, which only intensifies those fears.

Eventually, some educators began to see the educational value despite the well-meaning church folk who decided the Internet was the devil’s work. Now gadgets are used in the classroom and churches as never before.

I guess my mother’s old standby, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” still holds true. Better to adapt and assimilate the new thing than to continue mindlessly with the comfortable and proven.

Perhaps the biggest reason for resistance is the fact that the older we get, the longer it takes to process and learn. Maybe that’s why we want to hold to the old policies, to the old ways of doing things, to our antiquated equipment. It gets harder and harder to add new information to an already crowded brain.

My mother’s life saw many changes—from a wringer washer machine and a pedal-operated sewing machine to an automatic clothes washer and an electric dishwasher. With each transition, she fought the change until time, energy, or the insistence of others forced the change. Always, though, she was glad she finally capitulated.

I vehemently opposed the digital age. I swore up and down I’d never be able to learn how to use a computer. Then computers became mandatory in my job. I had no choice. “If you can’t beat 'em, join 'em,” I said.

Now we live in the “smart age” … smartphones and smart televisions.

I’ll never be techno-smart, but I did learn that computers can greatly enhance the quality of life. And so I learned not to resist so hard, but to embrace change. And so my generation has gone from manual typewriters to electric typewriters to computers, from dial access antenna-operated televisions to remotes to cable, from VCRs to DVRs to TiVo and now more AI in the mix. We’ve gone from clumsy movie cameras to camcorders to digital recorders and now to smart watches and phones that do it all.

We can resist and miss out on the wonders the new brings, or we can get on the surfboard of change and glide to shore, enjoying the ride.