Vois Sur Ton Chemin

Bubble...

It's weird. You see them, hundreds of them, probably thousands of them, all going the same direction (occasionally one splits off; pity the poor bastard who tries to cut across traffic). They follow the flow of traffic, busy, hurrying, oblivious. Like a school of fish. Or like a giant pile of those little plastic capsules that in the grocery store contain costume jewelery and at college contain condoms.



Why the little plastic things, you ask? Good question. If the hypothetical you sat on a hypothetical bench at the side of this hypothetical flow and observed this phenomenon, you would see hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, each encapsulated in their own individual sphere.

My guess is eight of ten people wandering by has either an iPod or a cell phone stuck to their ear(s) like a disease (or a younger sibling). These lil gadgets which mummy and daddy just had to buy for them create a sort of force field, isolating each individual from the flood of humanity. This is not a personal space type of thing (you do end up accidentally groping your fair share of strangers, headphones or no), not like sitting on a bus reading a book so no one will talk to you (admit it, you're eavesdropping on the bloke and his girlfriend in front of you, arguing about their [....]). No, this is the fuckoff-don't-even-think-about-talking-to-me-we- aren't-even-on-the-same-bloody-planet type of exclusion. The cellphone people, they charge on by like a rhino on laxatives, totally immersed in their conversations. They'll run you over, they will. And the dude on the ipod is jamming out over there, but his headbanging is a danger to himself and passerby.



I think it's sad. It used to be, you pass someone, you smile and say hi (at least in the US--in Germany, you avert your eyes and trudge on by, perhaps deigning a stiff 'Goten Morgen!' on special occasions). Or hihowsitgoin? which almost passes for an actual question but in whose answer you're not interested anyways. But you acknowledge the other person exists.

Try the new XYZ7000 Digital Music Player! Holds 5,000 songs and transports you to your very own reality, free from all that annoying static and distraction (formerly known as the person you just jostled, the person taking your order at a restaurant, the person who just said hello, the person talking to you).

posted by Vivyenne @ 3:52 PM