All By Your Lonesome.
Gone are the days when folks are content with time alone with their thoughts (the horror!) or loved ones (even worse!), evident in couples driven to counseling where negotiations hush the nagging blackberry (often during meals, with a clear beginning and end) and managers pass around 'cell phone bowls' to ensure employees are moderately present. But when the phones are switched to silence or temporarily (and resentfully) relinquished, the mind wanders anyway, to what's being missed or waiting urgently for a reply, even though what's actually being missed is often right there in front of their eyes, ears, and fingertips. Enjoy!
I have had this conversation with my family, oh, about a hundred times.(I liked the idea of that cell hone bowl.)Are Bob Herbert and I old fuddies. I fear so. But I remember when my kids knew how to write a letter, and how exciting it was when someone wrote back! Many letters, now sitting in a 'life box.' So,there is value in that.Someday, they will read them again, slide their fingers over the crackling, aging paper, admire the purple ink they used, and be glad to relive a memory that, in this digital age,has no equal.
ReplyDelete