Admit it, ladies and gents: You’ve laughed at and ridiculed the internet as a joke and as a crutch for those who need to get a life.

Me, too. I’ve done so myself.

I’m not laughing at it now.

The internet crashed sometime yesterday morning. It was kaput for the rest of the day, and into the night. The internet provider said it would be stored at or around midnight. I woke up this morning. No luck.

It was still down.

When the internet goes down in my house, everything goes down. TV, phone, computer. It got a little weird during the day when I discovered that my cell phone would work if I took it down the street and around the corner. That’s what I would do if I wanted to communicate with someone. I own a “smart home” in North Texas and I tell Alexa to perform certain tasks for me. During the down time,  Alexa would bark back, “I don’t undestand that!”

I also wanted to keep track of the news, particularly the stock market which holds my retirement money. I’ve been watching the market with particular interest since the Numbskull in Chief announced his worldwide tariff catastrophe.

Maybe I was better off not knowing what the market did today.

Whatever, I realize at this moment that I depend on the internet far more than I was willing to admit.

Listen up, gang. I no longer will laugh in derision at the mention of its name.