Moving On

Cheating and Technology

Technology is changing the face of cheating. Maybe it has something to do with the whole concept of "hand-held devices." Maybe it's the intensely personal nature of a communication delivered directly to your pocket. Maybe it's the immediacy of response possible with text messages, so different from love letters with stamps, yet apparently similarly satisfying.

If you saw a woman on a cell phone, cooing and smiling and generally making the audio equivalent of goo goo eyes, then hang up and immediately delete the record of the call, what would you think? Probably not her husband on the other line.

It's debatable whether the simple availability of technology increases cheating opportunities, but there's no denying that it makes cheating easier and more fulfilling than it was in the dark days. Scheduling trysts is easier with cell phones than home, office or pay phones. Caller ID can be used to great effect, helping in the "to answer or not to answer?" decision. Text messages and emails inform you immediately what the object of your obsession is doing (hopefully thinking about you). All kinds of online tools can be adapted to less-than-noble purposes.

The sense of urgency that it so inevitable in the illicit affair finds its most efficient form of expression via technology. Separation brings wistfulness, a text message immediate relief. Deleting records provides a temporary defense against prying eyes, and paperless billing another. But there's one thing that technology can't solve and that's a guilty conscience. Cheaters have to deal with that the old-fashioned way.