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Thursday, October 24, 2019

Instantaneous Communication - by Judy Ann Davis

Have you ever wondered how peaceful it might be if, perhaps, we didn't have instantaneous communications with each other via cellphones, the internet, email, and radio and television? Every day, we are bombarded with news of what is happening in the entire world, whether it affects us or not. And don’t let me get started on how Robocalls interrupt our lives.

How did our instant need to know come about?

On October 24th, 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States was completed. It was one line that connected an existing network in eastern United States to a small network in California via Omaha, Nebraska and Carson City, Nevada, via Salt Lake City. It offered, for the first time, a near instantaneous connection from coast to coast.

The transcontinental telegraph also brought about the demise of the Pony Express with its 400 horses, 120 to 180 riders, and 184 stations manned by several hundred personnel. Riders, who could not weigh over 125 pounds and who traveled an average of 75 miles daily, relied on swing stations along their route to exchange their tired mounts for a fresh one. Riding day and night, the Pony Express could deliver mail in ten days across our nation.
Although I love to Skype each week with my little grandson in Alaska, I sometimes think life was simpler, healthier, and less stressful when letters and corded phones were one of the few ways to communicate. I hate the feeling of having to rush through life—to have to instantly respond to a cellphone call, voice or text message.

Do you have a pet peeve about our instantaneous communications of today? Or am I the only one who’d love to see a hardy, handsome rider on a sleek black horse ring my doorbell with a letter in hand?



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8 comments:

  1. Judy, I so agree! I don't need to know EVERYTHING that's happening in every part of the world at any one minute. If I had grandchildren or if my children lived other places, then I'd welcome Skype. Otherwise, I think social media is a detriment to our peace of mind. Authors rely on it, but that doesn't mean we love it.

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    1. I think I'm becoming a Scrooge. I'm so tired of people interrupting my day with telephone calls trying to sell me things. And now, it seems that my email addresses have been sold because sale items appear every time I open it. Yes, social media is a detriment to our peace of mind. :-(

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  2. This is one of the reasons why my event in Silver City, Idaho, is so much fun. It's amazing how little stress there is when you know you won't be getting any robo calls (or any calls at all) and that if you want to talk to someone, it's your choice to seek them out. Also, when you visit with people, neither party is distracted and each person is duly attentive of the other. We somehow have forgotten the importance of visiting and personal interaction--or even how to do it.

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    1. I just read an article about a school in Wales that have banned cellphones in school and have seen a change in their students and their behavior. The young people are actually "talking" to each other! lol

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  3. I was one of the first to embrace cell phones. Yes, I had one that looked like a brick. Now, I often wish they'd just disappear!

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    1. Hilarious. When I was first married, my husband was a volunteer fireman and EMT and had a "bag phone" in his SUV. We thought we had the world by the tail. Little did we know, clumsy phones would evolve into cellphones and the "Dick Tracy" wrist watch would become a reality.

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    2. I do feel very pulled down by cell phones and email expectations, although I do use them. I was so reluctant to get a cell phone that a coworker basically marched me into the cell phone store and made me get one. Now I use it all the time, but there are times when I long to disconnect.

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