“We live in such an age of chatter and distraction. Everything is a challenge for the ears and eyes.”
About two years ago during the peak of the pandemic, my wife, daughter Tiffany and I decided to put together a package of goodies for my son, Joshua, his wife Maca, daughter Sasa and sons, Cloud and Dasty (pronounced “Dusty”). We filled a plastic grocery bag with PEZ candy and some wooden jigsaw puzzles.
In an effort to comply with the CDC mandate of minimizing face-to-face contact, we planned on stealthily placing the bag on Joshua’s doorstep and calling him a few minutes later to let him know about the location of the surprise package.
We drove to Joshua’s house and I quietly placed the bag on his doorstep. Everything appeared to be proceeding as planned as we drove away from Joshua’s house. I did notice that a pizza delivery car passed by us as we were headed back home.
When we perceived that enough time had passed, Tiffany called Joshua and told him about the present that we left on his doorstep. Joshua told Tiffany that a pizza had recently been delivered to his house, but that he did not notice any package on his doorstep. Joshua returned to and opened his front door, but he did not see our present.
After Joshua spent a few minutes unsuccessfully searching for the package, our minds began to speculate on what possibly could have happened to our gift. We then told Joshua about the contents of the package. Shortly thereafter, Joshua laughed into his phone as he noticed that his then 4 year-old son Dasty was sitting on the couch eating PEZ candy while playing with a wooden jigsaw puzzle. Dasty (whose eyes were and are much closer to ground level) saw and advantageously appropriated our surprise package while Joshua was distracted by the pizza delivery.
It is easy to understand why Joshua did not initially notice our gift. Mortal life has lots of moving parts and it can be quite complicated and distracting at times. However, I do not understand why so many allow themselves to be distracted and absorbed by the internet.
I humbly ask that you not allow artificial distractions such as those provided by social media to cause you to be inattentive to the very real and fabulous gifts that await you in our mortal world. No, I’m not asking you to throw away your pads and smart phones. We all know that internet technology has become an integral part of our lives.
I am simply asking that you expend more of your precious time and energy focusing upon our real world. For example, rather than reaching out to family and friends via an internet messenger service, just call and speak to them in real time. Better yet, if they live within your vicinity, call and invite them to go to breakfast, lunch or dinner with you.
For the past year, I have had the opportunity to regularly visit and interact with each of my four sons (who all live and work in Cheyenne) while we eat lunch together. Our face-to-face conversations are so much more meaningful than text messages. I so despised the coronavirus pandemic because it greatly impeded my personal interactions with those whom I so love and cherish.
If you have a friend who lives near you, please promptly call and invite her/him to go to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Then, enjoy yourself as you eat a good meal while personally communicating with your friend.
The time has come for us to reengage our real world.
John M. Walker is an attorney and lifelong Wyomingite who lives in Cheyenne. His email address is jwalkwyo7@gmail.com.
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