Too long; didn’t read.
Like LOL when Facebook became a thing, TL;DR is a viral acronym that has taken on a sudden relevance. Once an occasional rat scampering from a sinking mass of text, now the TLDR rodent is everywhere. Typically, it’s offered as a complaint about the length of a text, but its resurgence is ironic given that it has happened at precisely the moment when we have more disposable time than we know what to do with. If ever there was a chance to read War And Peace, this is it. And yet never have we felt less inclined to read massive Russian novels. We’ve lost patience with modest op-eds. We can barely make it through a four paragraph blog post. LOL!
There is something about the Covid-19 pandemic experience—a general feeling of anxiety—that militates against focused effort. Something about fear induces a state of ADD. Or maybe Covid-19 is only indirectly responsible for our flitting attention. Maybe it has more to do with the fact that, because we’re cut off from our friends, we spend more time on social media where a shift in attention is only a click away.
Too long; didn’t read.
Words aren’t the only things I read. When I walk outdoors with a camera in hand, I read the world. As with books, I find myself afflicted with a shortened and wandering attention. In pre-pandemic times, my “reading” often meant I entered into conversation with people I randomly met as I was walking. For example, I spent an entire morning chatting with Eveready Freddy in Allen Gardens. Another time I got down on the pavement in the financial district and chatted with a homeless youth who had a pet rat.
But since Covid-19 has come to town, I haven’t engaged with people the way I used to. They’re afraid to get close. I’m afraid to get close. We wear masks so it’s harder to make that personal connection that comes so easily when we can read one another’s faces. Connection takes too much effort. Now, all I have to show for my photo walks are fleeting encounters. Everything feels superficial. Every encounter feels like an IG heart or a FB thumbs up.
Too long; didn’t read.
