I overheard a conversation on the bus heading back from downtown Ithaca the other day. A man seated at the front of the bus was conversing with the bus driver. “I don’t use any kind of social media,” he said. “No Facebook—no nothing—I would rather interact with society in person.”
His statement rang all the way to the back of the bus. It was interesting how everyone’s head looked in his direction as if he had said something absurd.
I’ve often wondered what would happen if the internet went down for a couple of hours—maybe even a day or so. Would people freak out? Would they find it hard to function? Would they use their phones to call one another? Would they take the time to discover stationery and use snail mail?
Lately, I’ve been feeling like the world is too noisy. That’s the best way I can describe it. Hatred, prejudice, violence—people getting off on other’s misery. There is so much suffering. The pandemic hasn’t curbed the violence or anything else negative for that matter. Maybe it’s wishful thinking. Something has to snap us out of all of this muck.
D.T. Torres 