Around The Clock
Clouds scampered past the gibbous moon, which wanted nothing more than to show off its tilted teacup-balancing act without a darkening interruption. The moon with the cratered eyes looked down at earth, knowing that many more than usual were gazing upon it on this night. One in particular, looking a bit to the northeast on this quickly cooling night, was leading a discussion about the unusual shift in thinking and lifestyle that was underway at a remarkable pace around the world.
“I can’t believe that a small county in South Carolina—Darlington, started it all with a cry against iPhones, iPads, Blackberrys, Nooks, cell phones, computers, et al, the Internet and whatever else was hurling us into an unforeseeable, futile future.” As a cloud wisped by, momentarily shrouding the group, Dr. Carl Saporiti, Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University, did not skip a beat and continued sharing his thoughts to a gathering of the non-tenured and a few never-ready-to-leave students. “It seems that, in the last ten years or so, the world has gone totally digital, totally wi-fi, hooked on HD, and living on TiVo’d scenes of made-up life. Man today has become verifiably insane with this belief that no human contact is really needed—just watch people walk down the street with a cell phone to their ear or speaking into dead air while their Spock-like earpiece transmits what they are saying!—and who have absolutely zero knowledge or even basic awareness of how we lived just a few centuries ago! Why it’s like an episode or two of Dr. Who, or even an entire season.”
Mike Mittle, a senior pursuing a psychology degree, was the first to ask a question. “Doctor, it was Facebook and Twitter and blogs and text messaging that spread the word. Aren’t you being a bit hypocritical to suggest that these contemporary modes of communication—and those you mentioned—are the crux of the problem when they are responsible for enlightening us to begin with?”
Saporiti adjusted his lotus-like bracing against a tall Poplar. Finally, with a sigh, he answered. “First thought to mind as you spoke is, granted, the list is long. Second was admonishing myself for not mentioning a few more culprits in our upward…demise. Lastly I thought, damn kid’s right.”
That admission brought about nervous butt shifting, some smiles that likely spoke “quack” and a few restrained laughs. But Dr. Saporiti wasn’t finished. He pulled at his graying Van Gogh as though considering what must be said to bring some seriousness back to the conversation.
“Ladies and gentleman, consider these points. Years ago began the campaign to stop logging. We now log more. Years ago the effort began to stop certain fishing techniques and the brutality of whaling, with apologies to Ishmael. More fish are harvested than ever. Fast-forward a bit. There is a law that will do away with the glow of Edison’s incandescent light bulb altogether and replace it with a mercury filled, life threatening one, on the market as we speak. Not too long ago when we were thirsty we drank from the faucet, or turned our head skyward to catch a few raindrops, or played with and drank from the garden hose. Today our world is littered with plastic water bottles. When was the last time you saw someone walking or jogging or sitting and relaxing without a bottle of water? These thoughts are not connected or in any order, but just think of guzzling automobiles and all the uproar for better mileage cars. Are we attacking the problem the common sense way? There are more fuels consumed today than ever! Think of it…the idea to use corn for fuel…did anyone consider the millions of starving people around the world and how we could feed their carburetors some much needed carbs? Back in the ’60s and ’70s there were communes established so like-thinking people could share the earth’s bounty—in some illegal ways even—all desiring to just be left alone. But what happened? The founders looked the other way as electricity was spliced from nearby power lines and fed to their small, earth-friendly community. Why, you may ask? To power hair dryers, kitchen appliances, clothes washers and dryers, even radios and TVs. The allure, and the lure cast upon our society in particular, had deeply hooked them and they craved the conveniences like a baby to mother’s milk.
“I say all this to make the point that we are—or better and more accurately stated, were—a weak example of all the various gods’ words to be strong and self-sufficient; to be outwardly caring and considerate, not drawn to harbor ill thoughts of others and rely on self aggrandizing just to support a fragile ego and project an unreal image. Don’t you see? We are weak! From the beginning of time we followed who we were sure were strong and confident. Napoleon. Hitler. We believed what was marketed to us was the best for us. Butter will kill us. No! Margarine will. Eggs are bad. No! Eggs are good. Can any of you now say, after nearly a year since the Darlington initiative got a full head of steam, that you feel worse? That you have not found some comfort and peacefulness in your lives? Or, that you have not experienced real love for another, on a level you never thought possible?”
Finally, after what seemed to be longer than minutes could be used to count, Kelley Raver, a Junior with hopes to be a Wall Street wizard spoke up with noted brevity.
“I think the movement has taken us all back to the stone ages.”
As quickly as the doctor wanted to counter, he held his thoughts in check. Soon everyone heard a voice from the shadow of a nearby Oak.
“Excuse me,” were the words they heard. For some uncanny reason the doctor instantly had a premonition. With more gravitas than the term usually means, the doctor whispered, “He gets it.”
The fresh-faced, groomed and short-hair bearded young man stood, possibly to add some needed confidence to his voice. “I don’t remember reading in any Bible or Koran or in any of the writings from Budda or lesser known gods that we get a ‘do-over’, at least one that starts with a new day on earth. Sure we get do-overs or a fresh start through prayers and meditations and all, if you follow that stuff, but not on a global scale.”
After contemplating the man’s words, it struck the professor that he did not know his name. Was he one of the new breed recruited to teach here? Before he could ask, he watched the young man remove his watch before bringing it close to his face and checking the time.
“We have, in our time zone, three minutes to complete the mission of reconnecting ourselves to our self, to others, to everything around us.” He looked to his mentor-from-afar. Though he had never shaken hands with Professor Saporiti, shared a coffee, or spoken a single word with, he had followed his every word that went far beyond computer sciences.
“Professor Saporiti, thank you for enlightening us…me. May we have an opportunity to know each other better.” The man smiled. “Not through emails or texting. One day soon I’ll buy some paper and write you a letter.”
Others in the group began removing watches. Around the world every timepiece on walls, digital clocks in cars, masterfully mechanized clocks at the top of steeples…were all being destroyed.
The final decree was to destroy the world’s constant reliance on artificial time and rely once again, as in a do-over, to rely on Nature’s own directives as to when to plant, sow and reap, when to hibernate and when to procreate, when to gather for warmth and when to shed to cool. This, the final adaptation after destroying reliances once assumed to be necessities of life, but found to be unintended offerings of early death by disassociation.
The near-full moon watched over the rotating earth and felt a new kind of sea change. Suddenly it felt no eyes upon it. Then, miraculously, one set of eyes remained.
The unnamed man, possibly a young teacher, looked around the grounds but saw no one. It was as he had seen previously on this day as he stepped effortlessly from one time zone to another after each final decree was carried out.
It is finished.
Heaven or Hell, the clock stopped here.
“I can’t believe that a small county in South Carolina—Darlington, started it all with a cry against iPhones, iPads, Blackberrys, Nooks, cell phones, computers, et al, the Internet and whatever else was hurling us into an unforeseeable, futile future.” As a cloud wisped by, momentarily shrouding the group, Dr. Carl Saporiti, Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University, did not skip a beat and continued sharing his thoughts to a gathering of the non-tenured and a few never-ready-to-leave students. “It seems that, in the last ten years or so, the world has gone totally digital, totally wi-fi, hooked on HD, and living on TiVo’d scenes of made-up life. Man today has become verifiably insane with this belief that no human contact is really needed—just watch people walk down the street with a cell phone to their ear or speaking into dead air while their Spock-like earpiece transmits what they are saying!—and who have absolutely zero knowledge or even basic awareness of how we lived just a few centuries ago! Why it’s like an episode or two of Dr. Who, or even an entire season.”
Mike Mittle, a senior pursuing a psychology degree, was the first to ask a question. “Doctor, it was Facebook and Twitter and blogs and text messaging that spread the word. Aren’t you being a bit hypocritical to suggest that these contemporary modes of communication—and those you mentioned—are the crux of the problem when they are responsible for enlightening us to begin with?”
Saporiti adjusted his lotus-like bracing against a tall Poplar. Finally, with a sigh, he answered. “First thought to mind as you spoke is, granted, the list is long. Second was admonishing myself for not mentioning a few more culprits in our upward…demise. Lastly I thought, damn kid’s right.”
That admission brought about nervous butt shifting, some smiles that likely spoke “quack” and a few restrained laughs. But Dr. Saporiti wasn’t finished. He pulled at his graying Van Gogh as though considering what must be said to bring some seriousness back to the conversation.
“Ladies and gentleman, consider these points. Years ago began the campaign to stop logging. We now log more. Years ago the effort began to stop certain fishing techniques and the brutality of whaling, with apologies to Ishmael. More fish are harvested than ever. Fast-forward a bit. There is a law that will do away with the glow of Edison’s incandescent light bulb altogether and replace it with a mercury filled, life threatening one, on the market as we speak. Not too long ago when we were thirsty we drank from the faucet, or turned our head skyward to catch a few raindrops, or played with and drank from the garden hose. Today our world is littered with plastic water bottles. When was the last time you saw someone walking or jogging or sitting and relaxing without a bottle of water? These thoughts are not connected or in any order, but just think of guzzling automobiles and all the uproar for better mileage cars. Are we attacking the problem the common sense way? There are more fuels consumed today than ever! Think of it…the idea to use corn for fuel…did anyone consider the millions of starving people around the world and how we could feed their carburetors some much needed carbs? Back in the ’60s and ’70s there were communes established so like-thinking people could share the earth’s bounty—in some illegal ways even—all desiring to just be left alone. But what happened? The founders looked the other way as electricity was spliced from nearby power lines and fed to their small, earth-friendly community. Why, you may ask? To power hair dryers, kitchen appliances, clothes washers and dryers, even radios and TVs. The allure, and the lure cast upon our society in particular, had deeply hooked them and they craved the conveniences like a baby to mother’s milk.
“I say all this to make the point that we are—or better and more accurately stated, were—a weak example of all the various gods’ words to be strong and self-sufficient; to be outwardly caring and considerate, not drawn to harbor ill thoughts of others and rely on self aggrandizing just to support a fragile ego and project an unreal image. Don’t you see? We are weak! From the beginning of time we followed who we were sure were strong and confident. Napoleon. Hitler. We believed what was marketed to us was the best for us. Butter will kill us. No! Margarine will. Eggs are bad. No! Eggs are good. Can any of you now say, after nearly a year since the Darlington initiative got a full head of steam, that you feel worse? That you have not found some comfort and peacefulness in your lives? Or, that you have not experienced real love for another, on a level you never thought possible?”
Finally, after what seemed to be longer than minutes could be used to count, Kelley Raver, a Junior with hopes to be a Wall Street wizard spoke up with noted brevity.
“I think the movement has taken us all back to the stone ages.”
As quickly as the doctor wanted to counter, he held his thoughts in check. Soon everyone heard a voice from the shadow of a nearby Oak.
“Excuse me,” were the words they heard. For some uncanny reason the doctor instantly had a premonition. With more gravitas than the term usually means, the doctor whispered, “He gets it.”
The fresh-faced, groomed and short-hair bearded young man stood, possibly to add some needed confidence to his voice. “I don’t remember reading in any Bible or Koran or in any of the writings from Budda or lesser known gods that we get a ‘do-over’, at least one that starts with a new day on earth. Sure we get do-overs or a fresh start through prayers and meditations and all, if you follow that stuff, but not on a global scale.”
After contemplating the man’s words, it struck the professor that he did not know his name. Was he one of the new breed recruited to teach here? Before he could ask, he watched the young man remove his watch before bringing it close to his face and checking the time.
“We have, in our time zone, three minutes to complete the mission of reconnecting ourselves to our self, to others, to everything around us.” He looked to his mentor-from-afar. Though he had never shaken hands with Professor Saporiti, shared a coffee, or spoken a single word with, he had followed his every word that went far beyond computer sciences.
“Professor Saporiti, thank you for enlightening us…me. May we have an opportunity to know each other better.” The man smiled. “Not through emails or texting. One day soon I’ll buy some paper and write you a letter.”
Others in the group began removing watches. Around the world every timepiece on walls, digital clocks in cars, masterfully mechanized clocks at the top of steeples…were all being destroyed.
The final decree was to destroy the world’s constant reliance on artificial time and rely once again, as in a do-over, to rely on Nature’s own directives as to when to plant, sow and reap, when to hibernate and when to procreate, when to gather for warmth and when to shed to cool. This, the final adaptation after destroying reliances once assumed to be necessities of life, but found to be unintended offerings of early death by disassociation.
The near-full moon watched over the rotating earth and felt a new kind of sea change. Suddenly it felt no eyes upon it. Then, miraculously, one set of eyes remained.
The unnamed man, possibly a young teacher, looked around the grounds but saw no one. It was as he had seen previously on this day as he stepped effortlessly from one time zone to another after each final decree was carried out.
It is finished.
Heaven or Hell, the clock stopped here.