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  • FREECYCLE

    Filed at 8:10 pm under by dcobranchi

    From the Fayetteville list:

    My brother and sister-n-law are both in Iraq and I have their children. It would really be great if someone has a webcam they could depart with so the kids can see their parents and the parents can see the kids. Thanks, Lisa

    One Response to “FREECYCLE”


    Comment by
    Valerie
    May 1st, 2007
    at 10:39 am

    The webcam seems like a good idea, but it can add to the stress of the separation.

    First off, there is the time difference between Iraq and the U.S., and duty schedules and daily life schedules are often at odds with each other (although not unsurmountable). This also ties people to the schedule, which gets in the way of things.

    Another stress-maker is _if_ the people at the two ends of the camlink come to a mutually acceptable time for regular chats, _if_ the person at the Iraqi end is delayed, the family in the U.S. is left hanging, and imagining the worst. If there is any kind of incident near the unit, and the unit is locked down and communication with the ‘outside world’ is severed temporarily, the Iraqi person’s absence can go on for days, or possibly even a week. (in this case ‘no news is good news’ because if you haven’t been notified, then there’s often nothing to notify you about)

    The flip side to that is if the people at the U.S. end miss being at their appointed ‘place of duty’ when the person at the Iraqi end has made an extra effort to be on time. This leaves the person in the combat zone stressed and can interfere with his or her focus later on. There are enough distractors without adding new ones.

    The technology is wonderful, but it helps to have the people using the technology be aware of the downsides so they can be prepared in case of ‘technical difficulties.’

    Some helpful links are at: Dealing with Deployment