Hmmm, did I just get lapped by change?
It is the mantra of the times we live in: Adapt, Adapt and Adapt again. Change comes at us with a vengeance and does not allow for the “I would rather not” option. COVID-19, or more specifically the response to it, has doubled down on that requirement.
You do not have to look far to see examples of that trend. Each has the good and the bad associated with it. Let’s explore a few.
Trend: Working at Home
The Good: No commute through rush hour traffic. Two weeks on a tank of gas. An extra hour of sleep in the morning. A whole new meaning to business casual attire from the neck down.
The Bad: E-mails. An avalanche of @&%!@ e-mails arriving at the rate of one every 2 to 5 minutes. Using my full repertoire of four letter words to express my frustration. If I had a quarter for every four letter word I utter, I could retire tomorrow.
Trend: Online Shopping
The Good: No waiting in line. No @&%!@ face mask. No roaming the aisles to find where the thing you need has been moved to since the last time you shopped. Thank God for Amazon! They have everything. Literally everything. I defy you: Name something they do not have.
The Bad: The growing pile of cardboard boxes in my garage that I have not had time to break down and recycle. There is barely room for my car in there now.
Trend: Online meetings. I even had a virtual appointment with my Naturopath today. At least I think it was him. It could have been has avatar. How would I know?
The Good: See above.
The Bad: More time spent staring at my laptop screen. I am practically attached at the hip to the damn thing now. And don’t get my started on the @&%!@ internet connection that drops for no reason. I have a whole separate category of four letter words for that situation.
Trend: 24 Hour News. The media mega-machine never sleeps.
The Good: Nothing comes to mind.
The Bad: Where do I begin? Only the details that are the most alarming are reported. The angle calculated to raise our blood pressure and keep us glued to the TV. The truth? Good luck. We surrendered that value some time ago. We just never found the time to write its epitaph.
Trend: Political correctness gone wild.
The Good: Empowerment of the individual. Anyone can bring the world to halt because they are offended. Wait, I’m confused. Is that in the good or the bad category?
The Bad: Everyone now has a personalized Stop the World button at their disposal.
Where am I going with all of this? Hell, I don’t know! It seemed like a good idea a half hour ago. But I got off track and couldn’t stop myself. Now I’m up to my knees and sinking fast.
That’s a metaphor, by the way. If you don’t get it, don’t worry. It will already be irrelevant by the time you read this post.
Change – adapt. Change – adapt again. And again. Too late. You’re too slow. Changed passed you by. You’re irrelevant now. So am I.
I’m offended. I’m calling a halt to it all right now. Tomorrow is cancelled. Maybe Monday as well. Everyone hates Mondays anyway.
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.
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Tags: change · fake news · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · political correctness · stop the worldNo Comments