Apocalyptic Social Media

It's day 87 since the crash. No one knows what happened...even if they did I don't know how we would get the information. None of the newspaper companies survived the digital age and they were all shut down. There is television but they were so dependent on digital information that 6 o'clock news is a joke now. I heard a rumor of some people wanted to start up the newspaper again but who knows if that will take off - too many people are broke after the collapse. 

I woke up to my alarm this morning. That's beginning to feel normal - I use to use an app for that. I use to use an app for my morning coffee too! I'd send in my order - use a groupon and they'd scan my phone to add points towards my next purchase...ugh. Now I have to keep track of regular coupons and there is a card in my purse so they can punch it to keep track of the coffee's I consume...like I need a reminder of my consumption. 

I needed to talk to my friend about an upcoming birthday and I actually had to call her up. Weird. We use to just have a standing text convo going - ya know..filled with short phrases or one word answers but I was okay with that - my days are filled. Came in real handy when my mother contacted me...now I listen to her 'catch up' with me while I lay the phone down and keep putting in loads of laundry or unloading the dishwasher. 

Dinner is different now...my daughter actually talks to me. I get to hear about her day and there is no interruptions of the 'ding' when a notification comes through or checking various sites for updates. Actually, I feel a bit of relief...there was always a bit of anxiety when I posted a photo to Facebook and no one 'liked' it within two minutes...my therapist said I was being too hard on myself - she is great at motivating me and making me feel better about myself. There use to be an app for that too.

My Sparta

We rolled in on a November day when I was in the middle of the 2nd grade. I didn't mind moving in the middle of the school year since my parents had held me back and I was getting made fun of at my other elementary school. They moved us into an old farm house where you couldn't tell if you were in the town or the country and I had proof! On the edge of our property stood the city limit sign and cars started going 55 mph when they passed our driveway. Sparta was where I learned to ride my bike and I owned that town. There was a pipe that crossed the river in town behind the soccer fields that most couldn't see and that's where we could cross into town if we walked. Sometimes we would walk the tracks but you had to be careful and look down them...if you saw the 'big kids' walking the tracks you had to find another path...so we did. My town had one traffic light when I was in elementary and as I approach thirty years from my arrival to that small town it has morphed into a five light town...impressive. My Sparta boasted of a party store near the elementary where we would bring back cans in exchange for bazooka gum and a can of soda but now you can't get the penny or five cent candy because it was sold to a family from overseas and they tossed out all the candy...they don't want kids hanging around a liquor store. Sparta rolled in the blue and white and under those Friday night lights you could hear the band play and the announcers voice clear across town in my own back yard. Evergreen street is the site of the time I was feeling the vibration of my bike spokes with my flip flop toes...that is, until - my toes caught the spokes and hit the bar of my bike. Our bike ride got cut short...so did my toes. In my Sparta everyone went out to either Angela's for pizza or to Trini's for a buritto - didn't matter that we had BOTH McDonald's and Burger King. My town - the one filled with pranks, and floats and prowling tickets and mattress surfing and sitting in the church pew covered in cow crap. Sparta.