Teacher Tom: Let's Not Forget What We Lose With Those Screens Between Us and the Other People

Teacher Tom: Let's Not Forget What We Lose With Those Screens Between Us and the Other People

Let's Not Forget What We Lose With Those Screens Between Us and the Other People

I've been taking a lot of long and necessarily solitary walks these days. The weather has been glorious and, frankly, there's not a lot else to do. Occasionally, I encounter people coming toward me from the opposite direction. The protocol is for both of us to move as far to the right as we can in an attempt to create the six foot separation that is the depressing hallmark of our current era. Sometimes one or the other of us has to step out into the street because most of the neighborhood sidewalks aren't wide enough to accommodate both of us. I've been trying to make eye contact, to smile, and to greet my fellow pedestrians. It's not the usual big city protocol, but these are extraordinary times.

The other day I was making my way up the long hill of Dexter Avenue after a turn through Fremont. I spied a young man in the distance, a boy really, maybe still in middle school. We were to pass one another on a wide section of the sidewalk so I moved to my side well in advance of our encounter and he to his. Then, just as we approached one another, just as I was about to nod my head in greeting, he began to drift toward the center of the sidewalk, toward me. It didn't seem intentional. Indeed, I felt myself pulled toward him as well. It was almost as if we were falling into one another's gravitational fields.

Several years ago, there was a commercial on television featuring screen-based technology that allowed children to "paint" on their screens. The pitch featured a girl CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Let's Not Forget What We Lose With Those Screens Between Us and the Other People