April 21, 2010 is the 100th anniversary of the death of Mark Twain, an original American icon, literary giant, and home grown sage. Whether lionized or lambasted, his contribution to American thought and our uniqueness of character is undeniable.
What is sometimes overlooked was his astute recognition of what an unmitigated annoyance the telephone was to become.
In “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” he observed, “ Confound the telephone, anyway. It is the very demon for conveying similarities of sound that are miracles of divergence from similarity of sense.” Elsewhere in his works he is less oblique.
Imagine what his reaction would be to today’s proliferation of cell phones; ubiquitous in every purse, pocket, automobile and belt loop in creation; a society where there is more talk and less said than at any time in recent history. Any conversation, any pause of quiet, in any venue, now is in immediate danger of rude interruption of an irrelevant noise, some wag’s idea of what would be a clever ring tone. Not confined to the hearing of the wearer of this offensive gadget, it assaults the ears of everyone present, whether at table, in solemn conclave, awaiting a doctor’s appointment or a stroll down a quiet path, the cell phone repeatedly squaks for attention until it’s buttons are pushed. Thereafter, the wearer will conduct a loud conversation with his invisible caller, indifferent to the irritation caused to all within hearing.
During rush hour a goodly number of drivers devote half of their attention to hazards of the road, holding the gadget to one ear and yammering away, oblivious to the dangers they create. Like some infectious virus, no longer content with having seriously damaged the ancient art of polite dialogue, the gadget now takes pictures and offers an ever increasing menu of distractions, diversion and services, called apps, competing with computers, directories, magazines and newspapers.
The fine art of corresponding; carefully crafted letters going around the world has been supplanted, by instantanious blather, via satellites. Small wonder then, when over 100 years ago, the visionary Mark Twain, when composing his famous prayer that :
“...all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage (every man and brother of us throughout the whole earth) may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except the inventor of the telephone.”
What a damn pain this little miracle has become !
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