Farming life
Screen time
by Tom Martin
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CLARA NICOLL
I recently found myself under heavy questioning about my screen time. Turns out that I spend an average of more than five hours a day looking at my phone, according to the phone itself. The charge: how on earth does a farmer like me, supposedly out toiling in the elements, clock so many hours on a digital device?
Constructing a defence for myself, my mind turned to a half-remembered interview I heard years ago. It was some explorer or other, a real Bear Grylls type, and he was asked what his most important piece of kit was. His response—and keep in mind that this was in the dim and distant pre-iPhone days—was his BlackBerry. He said it was the piece of equipment that enabled him to fundraise while training, to communicate with team members and to make the arrangements required to complete his arduous adventure.