There are days that I think I could die of it. Wonder what they'd put down as the cause of death if you just stopped breathing in the sheer, vast, emptiness of isolation? Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know that social isolation is one of the extreme effects of mental illness, but frankly, I wonder if it isn't just the extreme effect of our social culture? Even when I'm out of my house I'm amazed at how little we interact with the people around us.So yesterday I volunteered some of my time to help get donations for the Salvation Army and the Prenatal Care Center. Every March the Soroptimist Clubs of Anacortes and Fidalgo Island team up for a Community Baby Shower and hit the local markets encouraging folks to pick up some baby food, or diapers or such and donate it for folks that are struggling to make ends meet. It is really an easy sell; even people disinclined to contribute to the poor (perhaps buying into the idea that they must have done something wrong to be poor or homeless in the first place,) have no problem opening up their wallet for a baby. My job was to ambush shoppers at the door and present them with a list of possible contributions that they could pick up while shopping. And it was interesting to see how generally uncomfortable people are with talking to a 'stranger' - how smiling and greeting someone automatically seems to put them on the defensive. I was pretty uncomfortable, too, even though I genuinely believed that most of them would be inclined to contribute - and there were people that I couldn't bring myself to greet, as they seemed almost hostile.
Okay, so we did pretty well in the donation department nonetheless. But I marvel that anyone connects with anyone in a world where speaking banal pleasantries to someone that you do not actually know seems awkward at best. Everywhere I go I see people talking to a little square of plastic, or typing furiously on it. But where do people talk? Not at the market, not at the dinner table, not in the car, or the bus, or the train. So.... where?
As I write this I'm at home... alone... on my computer. I wonder if you can die from it...
3 comments:
Great post Trish. You hit points that are right on. I recently attended a lecture by a very progressive Rabbi where he addressed how we talk to to people in this time of "social networking" and how we give a little of ourselves so that others may survive. He made me think about "always give socks". Silly, but really, when I think about all the things I donate, I have never thought about socks.
Now I will think about diapers, onsies and a fleece bunting.
Thanks Trish.
I think its about fear. People are scared of the unknown, scared of strangers, scared of reaching out and being turned away/rebuffed,imbarassed, etc.
Signed Mojo's Mama
All about fear. But what are we so afraid of?
Thanks for listening.
Post a Comment