A while back, I watched an audience viewing a standup comedian. Every time he used the f-word, his audience laughed and laughed. I didn't think it was funny the first time and it got less funny with every repetition. Maybe the group feels free when they can hear the word used openly. It certainly seems to have strong laugh value for them and none for me. As I wrote last June 20, I realize that language habits and customs change but use the old reading teacher approach and say "Teakettle" for each use of the f-word and see how much more imaginative and powerful words are when one term is not overused. Use of the little gray cells can fashion a report or an ad that stimulates rather than bores.
Since I really don't need any news of the day and since at the same time, I have many sources for news if I do want to find out what is getting media attention, I am irritated, not charmed and not patient when I click on a link that says volcano explosion and get interrupted by an ad for an automobile. Even with a virile looking young man smiling at a beautiful young woman, I fall into a sour mood when I have to wait for 9, 8, 7,... seconds before the ad gets out of my way and I get to see this business of volcanos. I am getting better at killing the entire web page before the ad finishes, foregoing the exciting volcano information.
I am out of sync with my cellphone. It is a Tracfone and it works very well. I pay less than $100 a YEAR to be able to send and receive phone calls from wherever I am. The coverage is excellent and the price is low. It is a flip phone and draws smirks and sneers when others see it, just as my horse-drawn carriage does. I could afford a smartphone and then I could be connected to the internet even more hours of the day than I am now. But I am out of sync. I don't want to look even more things up on Wikipedia. I like to forget the questions I heard at lunch and not spend the time with my friends looking at a little screen trying to get the annual wheat production of Canada.
I realize that if I were in my 20's, I would be compelled accept dumb language usage, ads for everything prefacing any communication and high prices for the continuous opportunity to be interrupted, annoyed and distracted. Luckily, I am peacefully placed in my post-70 years and it is a very comfortable place to be.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
