After working in the private club industry for over 54 years, I have watched technology evolve and deliver many wonderful benefits that improve our business and personal lives. But I am concerned that too much technology is beginning to erode the quality of our business relationships and, even more importantly, our personal and family relationships.
I recently received a message on my phone that began with the disclaimer, “Please excuse any grammar or spelling errors since this message is being sent from my cell phone.” NO! Sorry, I will not allow you to “dumb down” the English language just because you don’t want to take the time to send me a grammatically correct message. Stop it! Communicate like an adult who knows how to write a simple declarative sentence without spelling errors.
During our family reunion over the recent holidays, I gathered all 12 of my nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews and in my best “Scrooge persona”, told them that from now on when I call them, I expect them to answer my calls and to call me back in a timely manner if they were occupied.
“But Uncle Dick, I am very busy,” one of my college-age nephews said. Stop it! You have no clue what “busy” is. Just spend a day with a private club general manager and you will then understand what it is like to be busy.
A few years ago, my business partner, Tom Wallace, was in town with his then-21-year-old son, Blair, and 17-year-old daughter, Bailey, and I decided to take them to Dominick’s, my favorite restaurant in Scottsdale.
Knowing how today everyone is glued to their cell phones, I told them that my only rule was that all cell phones would be left in the car during dinner. “Oh, but we need our phones,” they proclaimed. Stop it! After I dispensed with their verbal protestations, we enjoyed the evening and each other, without cell phones.
Walking out of the restaurant after dinner, Bailey commented, “You know that was some interesting conversation.” Yes, imagine what can happen when we get rid of the dis-tractions.
I don’t frequent fast food restaurants very often, but on a recent business trip, I walked into one of the better-known chain establishments and decided to order a cheeseburger, but without onions—one of the few items I am allergic to.
The restaurant, to my dismay, now requires you to place your order by using a free-standing computer screen. God forbid that we should be allowed to talk to a real person at the counter! After 10 minutes of trying to manipulate the order without onions, I gave up because it didn’t offer that option. Meanwhile, the line behind me had surged to a dozen people. Stop it! I walked out without any food and vowed to never, ever return to that chain restaurant.
My most recent airport experience also gave me an ex-ample of technology at its worst. I am “old school” when it comes to printing boarding passes, even though my business partners ridicule me.
Standing behind the family of four, I watched them try to find their boarding passes on their phones, which is now the preferred method among airlines. After a few minutes of an unsuccessful search, the gate agent finally had the family step aside as he tried to correct their apparent unsuccessful loading of their confirmation numbers. We were only delayed 10 minutes in our departure thanks to fumbled technology. Stop it!!
How tired am I of passwords? And if you forget a pass-word, you get to start all over. I recently tried to make a tee time on the website of my neighboring golf course. What had previously been a seamless experience has been altered because you now need a “password” to make a reservation. I won’t do it.
I called the course and asked the head golf professional why they added that feature. He said he didn’t know, but in his words, “it has created more confusion than it is worth.” I am convinced that if this trend continues, I may need a pass-word to use the bathroom in my own house. Stop it!
And finally, am I the only person who is tired of getting text messages from people you barely know? I don’t care what you are doing with your dog this afternoon, or when you are getting a haircut or what the weather is like in your city. I’m not going to carry on a conversation with text messages.
Stop it! I am done with “technology overload.” This much I know for sure!
THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE – January/February 2026
“This Much I Know for Sure” is a regular feature in BoardRoom magazine. Dick shares some of his reflections based on his 50-plus years of working in the private club business.