Rapture

As I was driving home from work this afternoon I encountered a very strange and very disconcerting situation. I first noticed a very backed up exit as I was cruising along on I-40 West. That exit is hardly ever backed up. I looked at the overpass and the lights were working (it's been raining all day so power could potentially be an issue) nor were there any lights indicating an accident or anything. Then I finally looked over at I-40 Eastbound. It was empty. Completely empty. 

I started paying more attention and started to see random motorcycle officers placed at exits. They were basically driving in small circles, but no one was getting on the freeway. My unease started to grow. Why would the freeway be empty? I have this supposedly nifty little feature in my car which will scan radio stations for traffic reports. It's only worked once in the entire time I've owned the car, so needless to say it wasn't very helpful. So with my ignorance and curiosity increasing, my heart started to beat a little faster. Then I see a line of lights...then a few black cars...then a really big black SUV with all sorts of big antennaes coming out the top...then more black cars...then more lights. 

First thought? I-40 Eastbound's been raptured and I've been left behind! I was on the wrong side!!! Okay, not really, but how funny would that be? Then I figured it must be somebody very important. I knew some of the presidential candidates were slotted to be in NC later this week (as for the first time in history NC's primary vote actually counts for something...unlike Utah's, which will probably never count for anything) but they're not president yet. 

So I kept hitting the traffic button and eventually stopped in on the tail end of a news report. Vice President Dick Cheney is apparently in town doing a speech for somebody at some private residence. Then he's leaving. My true thought was this: Is it the best way to help win republican votes by making hundreds of people sit on the freeway wasting their liquid gold they just paid $3.69 for while you go off to some speech with your motorcade?

Say What?

I was talking with my good friend Carolyn the other night and she was pondering aloud about the fate of her now grown children; their fate when it comes to communication anyway. We live in a world where 'digital' communication is the norm. The trend seems to be e-mail vs. letter, text instead of phone call, etc and she was wondering that having grown up in this digital age whether or not her children would be able to sit down and enjoy a good old fashioned chat. 

That got me thinking. I have a variety of friends with whom I communicate and it's interesting to me how I choose to do so with each individual. There are some people that I know the only way to get ahold of them is by phone. Whether their works takes them away from an "office" for extended periods of time or they are just slow typers and don't prefer e-mailing, the best way to talk to them is by phone. Some friends on the other hand, I communicate with almost exclusively via e-mail or texting. I find that when I "talk" to these individuals I can be witty and charming and vice versa. (Not that any of that appeal has actually worked on anyone...don't get your hopes up) Perhaps its because with e-mail you have pretty much as long as you need to complete the task. Then there's also the 'stalker' net of things like Facebook and MySpace. My friend Lili reminded me that one advantage of MySpace is that you can look anyone up without being their "friend"... In fact, I've looked up old boyfriends, high school acquaintances, and my highly attractive insurance agent... just to see what they're doing. I have no interest in being their "friend" nor do I really want them to know about my life, but my little snoopy side gets the better of me and I take a look anyway. Facebook isn't quite as allowing (unfortunately), but it's still allowed me to 'reconnect' with some acquaintances from my past. 

But my friend Carolyn has a point...when (or even if) I get together with a good majority of these individuals to have 'real life' conversations I find there are more awkward pauses and strange sideways glances than I'm comfortable with. This whole scenario reminds me of a play written in the 90s called "Nobody Knows I'm a Dog" about six individuals who find each other on the Internet. They create 'alter' personalities but eventually get revealed though the sequence of the play. At the end they have to deal with their own drama, but realize that honesty is the best policy. Anyway....

There are, of course, some people whom I do little communicating with unless it is in person.  I treasure those relationships. Not that I don't treasure the others, because I do. But there's just something extra nice about having someone you can sit down with and talk to. My home teachers asked me about a goal last night. Maybe that could be a goal. Have more IRL (In Real Life) conversations with the people I love. That will take time and planning and perhaps some travel, but in the end I think it will be worth it.