I once had a pen friend. A memory almost lost in the depths. Every letter from her was long awaited and anticipated. Flitting to the gate on spying the mailman. Exchanging pleasantries with him. The joy on receiving a letter savored for a fortnight. Each sheet was read and reread. Almost memorized. Post cards from exotic places. With stamps on them to collect.
Now I get emails. A dozen a day. I interact with the web page. I monitor the page all day long. Anticipated but never for long; it just takes a couple of seconds for it to reach me. Never memorized; they're just a login away. And links to uploaded photos from trips to foreign lands. (wonder what people did before picasaweb & flickr & etc., tea parties?)
Chance encounters were longed for - now they're just a ping and maybe continents away. Wonder if a friend was thinking about you - whats to wonder, monitor the tracker on your blog. Meet up at coffee shops - rendezvous on IM. Family time with board games was fun - log into yahoo games to play with the world.
Would I exchange the now for the then? In a jiffy. Never in a lifetime.
2 comments:
You cant make up your mind whether you prefer the now to the then? I'm confused (scratch my head and tap my chin).
no confusion. I'd love to give it up.. but don't think I can live without the trappings of the present - love them too.
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