Life in 2023: Are people overwhelming you?
I don’t know how to make this smaller!
Life in 2023:
Do you feel you can’t keep up with what’s going on in the world? Even your own life?
I certainly do.
And it kind of, well, really sucks…actually.
Recently it was my birthday, and I do THANK EVERYONE of you who wished me a happy birthday. But you may never know that because I did not reply to you. (hey, don’t judge me, this can’t just be me right?)
“Happy Birthday John, hope you have a good one”…
From…Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, Discord, Twitter, Gmail, Another Gmail Account, Work Email, Work Email 2, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, so many messages from so many places from so many people, I can’t keep up. Oh yes, from Telegram, Whatsapp, Line, WeChat, Kakoo, Hellotalk, even…Duolingo?
No, I’m not Mr. Popular, I just have 42 cousins and each one uses one of these different channels to reach me.
If it’s not a happy birthday, the other days are just deadlines, requests, questions, updates, etc. Oh yeah, I feel the overwhelming feeling. And all this I have the news nonstop about the world, and also the lives of all the people on social media and what they are up to.
Do you feel you can’t keep up with what’s going on in the world? Even your own life?
To the first question -feeling overwhelmed with the world. It wasn’t always “overwhelming”, it was perfect-whelming.
High school. Wake up. Don’t want to deal with the world yet, no problem.
The radio is beyond arm’s reach. Yes, the radio.
The first contact I can have with the world. If you live in New York you know this jingle…
“10-10 Wins! You give us 22 minutes, and we’ll give you the world”.
I brush my teeth, wash my face, and dress for school. I can focus on my own stuff.
As I wait for the train, my second contact with the world…the newspaper. Front page, back page, sports section, I love Patrick Ewing. The train arrives.
Find a seat and onto more newspaper. Onto the current events of the world…..done!
Contact with the world is over! Back to my own life, uninterrupted.
Until the 7 o’clock nightly news, if I chose to.
Remember back then:
There were only 3 ways to connect with the world. Radio, Newspaper, TV.
I chose when I wanted to start connecting with the world.
I chose when I wanted to stop connecting with the world.
I could also choose not to connect with the world at all. No radio, no newspaper, no TV.
(Now there is too much technology. I don’t even know how to get this line off the bullet point indentation and bring it back to the margin, damn, Squarespace. You are not supposed to be hard, and I am not supposed to be stupid. But I’ve spent 5 minutes trying to figure you out, and though this hurts the aesthetics of my message, my message is more important.)
Miraculously, I figured it out!
But everything has to be “visually appealing these days”, for people to read.
I miss the newspaper days, everything was black and white ink. A writer could just focus on writing and printing. There was no need for THIS EFFECT. lol
To the second and final question — feeling overwhelmed with peopple, peoople? (so overwhelmed you can’t even spell people right)
Back then there were only two ways for people to reach me.
The Telephone - Call my direct, I mean my family’s direct line. That’s right, there were gatekeepers. Want to talk to your girlfriend? Good luck, you have to bypass her father first. Interview -who are you, why are you calling my daughter, where do you live, how much will you make in the future…my gosh… never mind, Mr., it’s not that important I speak with her. “Good, then don’t call back again.” lol
Even if Mr. Protector is not home, you might get the busy tone. Your friend’s little brother hogs the phone, so you can never get through. So that’s it you are done.
2. The Mailbox - Send my direct, I mean my family’s mailbox. That’s right, there were gatekeepers. Want to write a letter to your girlfriend? Good luck, you have to bypass, guess who, her father again. He sees your name on the envelope, “isn’t that the kid who called and I said to never contact us again?” Trash can!
And there you have it, the two ways people could contact you. Besides in person of course, back when face-to-face was still a premium you don’t take for granted.
Skills Lost From Our Time -How to be courteous to others (Mr. Protector), how to introduce yourself and state your purpose, how to make the most of the limited time you have on the phone with someone, make the most of your time in person with someone, how to express yourself in 500 words in writing with a pen and paper to write a letter to someone. How to recognize your own handwriting.
John D. Lin
