The Short Walk, or, My sucessful fight against The American Way

Here in America, everyone drives everywhere. Every shop, or group of shops that is more than a road width apart has an enormous parking lot. You are not meant to walk from place to place, you are meant to walk from your car to the shop, then back to your car, then drive along to the next shop. Pavements are kept amazingly clean, but see very little use.

So when I walked from the store to the bank, (which was over two roads and along about half a mile of pedestrian 'sidewalk') I felt a sense of pride and achievement.  Other Americans may have looked down on me as they drove past in their air conditioned, leather interior, 12 mpg vehicles.  They may have wondered "Is his car broken, or is he just looking for the bus stop?"  They may have considered reporting me to the police for vagrancy, to the lunatic asylum for mental deficiencies.   Some of the kinder ones may have even thought of offering me a ride to my destination.

No matter what they thought, I carried on walking.  Hopefully they won't revoke my American citizenship for this.

Disconnected from Reality.

There is something strange that has happened to the human experience.  I noticed it the other day when a couple of my co-workers were discussing a TV show.  We had been working long hours due to the snow fall and consequentially some of the staff had missed an episode which contained some revelation about some character who did something... blahdeblah.  Who cares what happens to no-existent people?

Well, truth be told, everyone who watches the show did.  They were emotionally touched by what ever happened to whoever.  Their ire was raised.  Their thoughts were provoked.  Their anger was expressed.  And they wanted to share it with those who watched the same show.  The starting question was always the same though "Oh my goodness, did you see the episode last night?"  To say 'yes' was to be invited to join in the emotional conversation.  To say 'no' was to be asked to join in the emotional conversation without spoilers.

Now, this amount of emotional engagement is exactly what the makers of the show hope for.  It keeps the show in peoples hearts and minds, keeps the ratings high and the money flowing.  To achieve this level of engagement shows are scripted to appeal to viewers.  The producers set up their show to resonate with something that is naturally within humans; the ability to empathize with those around us.

This ability to empathize is something that has been put in us to improve humankind in general.  You will only help someone if you both know about their need and care enough to provide aid.  You can imagine yourself in a similar situation, waiting for some hero to rescue you.  And you become that hero!  In this way the world becomes full of heroes helping and being helped in their turn.  It seems to me to be one of the most powerful motivating factors in human relationships.

So the makers of these shows are taking that powerful motivating factor and using it to make money.  In doing so, I wonder how much damage they are doing to society.  We all have a certain emotional 'power bank'.  You have a certain amount of resources to draw on and when the limits are reached, there is no more empathy.  You don't care what happens to the other person because you are already drained by your emotional engagement with another person.  So you will not do anything to help.

So I have some questions about all of the emotional vitality that my co-workers were expressing on their TV show and its carefully designed characters and plots.  How much of an emotional withdrawal did that make from their bank?  How would that empathy have expressed itself otherwise?  And could all of that emotional energy have made a positive difference in the lives of people around them?

Those that write...

Those that can write, do.  Those that can't write critique. Or they would if they could actually think of that particular word.  Writing something that is easy to read is difficult.  I read the fanzine "the ugly inside", and while it is a totally worthwhile read, it isn't written brilliantly.  Those that can write brilliantly get jobs as journalists or novelists.

I like to write.  I like to make sentences flow together and I think (I think!) I am reasonably good at it.  Writing is about presentation, rhythm and choosing words that give an emotional content to your meaning.  Do you get what I mean?  Because some people don't.

Some people think that the phrase "icy snow" isn't a correct description of snow that has melted slightly and re-frozen.  They thing that it will confuse people that read an email sent out to customers - which email, I may add they would may never write.

Now, I'll be honest, I don't always write the perfect email.  I may disclose details about work that the bosses do not want the customer to know.  I may be honest about reasons for delay while the bosses would prefer to hid it.  Such things may be detrimental to the image of the company and I can accept guidance on these matters.  But "icy snow"?  Which brings me back to my original point.  Those that write do.

So I thought I should start writing again.