Look Out the Window!
The more I travel, the more obsolete I feel.
Last week, I popped out to Chicago to attend BookExpo America where I signed copies of The Island of Beyond
and met with the wonderful people at the Lerner Publishing booth
and tootled around that heck of a town!
Like many US cities, Chicago traffic jams are legendary, so I decided to take the L back to the airport to save money and time.
I rarely take the rapid transit system anymore, and was shocked to see – not some or half – but nearly every pair of eyes & ears plugged into a device. With the exception of an elderly woman in an elegant sari, I was the only person looking out the window. (The neighborhoods were fascinating!)
Once on the plane, I sat next to a fortyish mom who immediately powered up her Ipad and stuffed in the ear buds… not even a simple Hello, fellow human as I climbed over her legs and claimed my window seat.
I immediately arranged my unread (three-dimensional) New Yorker magazines in chronological order in the chair pocket – along with a bottle of water and special travel snacks – then dimmed the TV set to get a better view.
A few minutes after the plane took off, I marveled at the earth below – a sight that never ceases to astonish me. Glancing around to see who else was checking out downtown Chicago dramatically illuminated beneath us (is that the Sears Tower?) . . .
my spirits sank as I saw every single head tilted downward staring at their electronic laps. Most disappointing of all was my seatmate, who was “virtually coloring” in her “virtual coloring book” on her Ipad. UGH.
I have to say, the adult coloring craze completely baffles me, as I’ve resisted staying inside the lines ever since I could hold a crayon. Why a grown-up would want to color in a coloring book is perplexing (and a bit worrisome). However, at least a paper coloring book has texture and nuance and layered sensations… but a digital coloring book offers what?? I just don’t get it. And even more confounding, my seatmate used only two colors to fill in her entire digital design… double UGH.
It took everything inside of me to keep from standing up and hollering:
“Look out the window!”
Last week, I popped out to Chicago to attend BookExpo America where I signed copies of The Island of Beyond
and met with the wonderful people at the Lerner Publishing booth
and tootled around that heck of a town!
Like many US cities, Chicago traffic jams are legendary, so I decided to take the L back to the airport to save money and time.
I rarely take the rapid transit system anymore, and was shocked to see – not some or half – but nearly every pair of eyes & ears plugged into a device. With the exception of an elderly woman in an elegant sari, I was the only person looking out the window. (The neighborhoods were fascinating!)
Once on the plane, I sat next to a fortyish mom who immediately powered up her Ipad and stuffed in the ear buds… not even a simple Hello, fellow human as I climbed over her legs and claimed my window seat.
I immediately arranged my unread (three-dimensional) New Yorker magazines in chronological order in the chair pocket – along with a bottle of water and special travel snacks – then dimmed the TV set to get a better view.
A few minutes after the plane took off, I marveled at the earth below – a sight that never ceases to astonish me. Glancing around to see who else was checking out downtown Chicago dramatically illuminated beneath us (is that the Sears Tower?) . . .
my spirits sank as I saw every single head tilted downward staring at their electronic laps. Most disappointing of all was my seatmate, who was “virtually coloring” in her “virtual coloring book” on her Ipad. UGH.
I have to say, the adult coloring craze completely baffles me, as I’ve resisted staying inside the lines ever since I could hold a crayon. Why a grown-up would want to color in a coloring book is perplexing (and a bit worrisome). However, at least a paper coloring book has texture and nuance and layered sensations… but a digital coloring book offers what?? I just don’t get it. And even more confounding, my seatmate used only two colors to fill in her entire digital design… double UGH.
It took everything inside of me to keep from standing up and hollering:
“Look out the window!”
(Photos Credits: A few personal, but mostly Google Images)
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