the far side of the world…

Tag: writing

  • What In The World?

    Quite a few years ago, I decided that hovering over social media feeds, was probably not a healthy habit to cultivate. I went off Facebook…or, what I have called for years, the new “MySpace” for adults…Snapchat, Instagram, etc. There were three main reasons for this:

    1. Obnoxious political banter and the very weird assocciated behaviors by what I had assumed were normal people.
    2. A plethora of absolutely insane posts that purported to be little factoids. I had an associate once – a former Eastern European communist security force guy – who once told me, “David, I do tell you the truth! I am just selective about what part of the truth I tell you.” These factoids have enough truth to seem credible, and if you don’t have a skeptical – prove it to me – I’m from Missouri mindset, you fall for some real unhealthy gibberish.
    3. It is a sinkhole. It is the most anti-social, anti-human, anti-friendship, anti-know thy neighbor tool ever. It is an addiction of narcissism of a dimension that simply staggers my mind. Flip through feeds and reels, and if that doesn’t jump out at you, then you’re probably already sucked in.

    When I go out for dinner, which isn’t often because I love to cook, it still shocks me to see people of all ages – from Boomers down – out on a “date,” with their partner, and they both spend the whole meal with their face in their respective phone. 45 minutes of sitting, first drink, appetizer, dinner, check…staring and scrolling at a screen. They don’t even look at the forkful they’re shoving in their mouth! I think to myself, “really? you can’t peel off 45 minutes or so of your so ‘busy-busy’ life and have a conversation with someone? Look them in the eye – actually care about what they’re saying – listen, respond, etc? At the end of your life, are you going to be laying there wishing you had had enough thumb strength for just a few more hours of flipping through YouTube reels? By the way people act, you would think they know the days of their lives and feel pretty confident that they’ll be surrounded in the end by everyone they love, or thinks loves them. Go back and refresh on number 3 above…

    As a child, I was part of the beginning of kids who were “babysat” by the TV. My parents kept a single TV in the home most of my time with them, and for my first 10 years or so, it was in their bedroom, and we watched “by invitation.” So I never developed the habit. Also, though both my parents worked during that time, my Mother always had evening work at places like The Broadway, J.C. Penny, Montgomery Ward’s, and she had dinner ready, fed my Dad when he walked in, probably said “I had it, you got it!” and went to work. So, she was home all day for us. We were not “latch key” kids until we were teenagers and could fend for ourselves easy enough and had after-school athletics to keep us occupied most of the day. I grew up reading a lot, talking a lot, and watching T.V. on Sunday evenings in my parents room – all 8 of us – to watch Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, the Disney show, and Lawrence Welk show…although in which order, I don’t recall.

    Today, my own children included, it seems many young parents have defaulted to “Tablet Time.” I see kids, very young, plopped down with an iPad in front of them, scrolling YouTube. Take it away – and the tantrum starts. I don’t see kids reading, I don’t see parents reading to kids, and unless only one kid has the tablet, you don’t even see a lot of siblings playing around together. Is this a good thing? I don’t know. I always thought reading helped create imagination – formed a basis for writing well – and expanded your mental library. I don’t know if your 9 year old son, watching a 35 year old man play MineCraft and act like he is 8, is setting up this generation for the rigors of running the world.

    Time will tell.

  • Summer Travel

    Everyone needs to travel around a bit, so why not make it a journey?  

    Just spent 10 days doing a curve through the south and east coast.  Headed to Mississippi to visit my oldest boy and his family, then off to Mayberry, USA – Mt. Airy – home of Andy Griffith and the inspiration for his long-running show, to see an old running mate from my submarine days.  We go back to January, 1990 when I showed up at Commander, Submarine Forces Atlantic, in Norfolk, Virginia. And we have been brothers ever since. Honestly – bubbleheads get older, I don’t think we mature much…neither wife could really appreciate our stories and our jokes. Their loss!

    Then, a dash up to West Virginia to spend Father’s Day with my youngest daughter and her family, before we headed to an AirBnB in Jersey City to watch Borussia Dortmund play in the FIFA World Cup at MetLife Stadium with said daughter and her youngest.  The team played O.K. but not great – a 0-0 game.  The plus side to this leg of the trip – my youngest son came over from Brooklyn to watch the game and spend time.  75% of the kids seen!  After this, we continued north to Kingston, NY to enjoy a Dallas Hot Weiner and some soft serve.  And visit the childhood haunts of my wife.  Visited with some of her family, toured Catskill, to see where she spent summers, and then up to Syracuse for 3 more days of visiting before we flew back.  Every day was fun – and that’s what travel should be.  

    And then back to the ETX.  Where, the grass was tall enough to bale for hay…two days on the tractor and the mower and we’re almost where we need to be!

    Two years ago, I had plans to head to a little coastal town in South Carolina to visit my dearest – and practically only, after 40 years – college friend. Anne was a hoot, and her then husband and my college sweetheart made up a fun foursome that centered around simple times, her two young children, and any adventure Northern California had to offer. We stayed in touch – even if it meant 3 or 5 years of getting lost in all our moves – somehow. She had an infectious laugh, a beautiful smile, and a no-nonsense way of looking at things. She and her husband showed up here about 4 or 5 years ago. Hot as hell. I am dirty, sweaty, and feeding the chickens when some redhead starts shouting “Hey!” at me over the fence. I squinted – and probably had a “Who the F— is that?” look on my face when she said “David Meyers!!” Not a question – a simple fact. She had not seen me in probably 20 years, I am retired – bearded – and not looking like much…but she knew who she was addressing! And I remember the whole change in my attitude! “ANNE!!!” and I actually ran – picture a mastodon pounding the tundra – and we had a great visit. Her and her husband, Charlie, were in Texas visiting his sister and she said “He live’s in this area, somewhere…” and found me. My trip to South Carolina was to return the favor, but it never happened. Anne unexpectedly died. My longest friendship ended, and my grief continues.

    So – don’t ever plan to visit old friends next year or the year after. Go visit NOW. You don’t know if a parent, an uncle, a friend, will be around when you finally decide to interrupt your life. This trip, was to make sure I put ‘eyes on target’ for a few folks that I love and respect. And to tell them that, face to face.