Post-Modern Drunk: Paradigm Swing Shift
I went to see a play last night: Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, a truly wonderful show about academia, math, love, and other things that Tom Stoppard tends to write about and make entertaining.
During the intermission, I could hear the people right behind me talking about how they were enjoying the play, but how long it was lasting. One said to the other, “I kept looking at the time and wondering how long the entire show was.”
And I found myself thinking about how incredibly rude it was to take out your phone and look at the time on it in a darkened theater. I was even kind of patting myself on the back about the fact that I was so engrossed in the show that I wasn’t noticing someone taking out the phone to look at the time in a darkened theater.
It did not occur to me until this afternoon—roughly 20 hours later—that there are in fact other devices than phones that one might look at to determine the time. Some of them are even relatively easy to look at. Even in a darkened theater.
I've moved on from such things as watches, which is kind of a shame, because watches are one of the few ways that men can accessorize, especially if you don't like ties, ascots, cuff links, or hats. It's not much of a shame, because I suck at accessorizing. Still. I've moved on, and occasionally I forget that other people have not.
“The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed.” –William Gibson
