Power to the people

Many, many years ago there lived an old lady in my aunt's building. One day the old lady knocked on my aunt's door saying her washing machine was broken and would my aunt mind if she used her washing machine until hers was repaired. Being the good Christian and generally nice person that she is, my aunt said yes, and so the old lady started to come over about once a week with her laundry, and while she waited to the washing cycle to finish they would chat. This went on for a while, and a few months later the old lady passed away. When her house was emptied amongst other belongings there was a washing machine in perfect condition. It was then that my aunt learned that the old lady never needed to use her washing machine; she was simply lonely and that time she spent doing her laundry at my aunts was probably the only decent human interaction she had.

And this makes me think. How many of us are lonely out there? How many - especially in older generations - are ashamed to admit they need a bit of human contact? And how oblivious are we to other people's plight, simply because we dig ourselves too deep into our own lives? Our busy, multitasking existence? Are our glowing screens (those magical instruments that allow us to connect with the world) keeping us from looking eye to eye? From actually seeing what's around us, and more importantly, who's around us? From touching people. Is our constant typing and scrolling keeping us from holding a loved one? From running our fingers through their hair. From actually being there, totally there.

Today as I got comfortable on the bus seat and I grabbed my phone, ready to immerse myself in some video or other, I realised that if I did connect to the web, I would disconnect from the world around me, and I wasn't okay with that. I would miss the sunrise from the top of the A34. I would miss seeing the world awakening around me. I would not see the usual people I see on my commute (the Russian lady with her energy drink, the bloke with a Portugal cap, the executive with his Harry Potter socks). I would drive people away that might otherwise engage me in a morning chat. So I didn't. Today there were no videos, no readings, no games, no quizzes, nothing! Just my eyes taking in the world and my ears welcoming the people. Today was a good day.