Well, maybe not love, maybe appreciation; gratefulness; camaraderie would be closer to what I mean . . . or maybe it’s all rolled into one in there somewhere.
I haven’t been at this writing game, and certainly not published writing, for all that long. So, I still get excited to see what you all have to say about various subjects. I just have to let you guys know that one of the things that gets me out of bed in the morning . . . . other than, at my age, avoiding a wet bed . . . .is the thought that I get to boot up my computer and see what everyone has had to say since I was there last. I really appreciate the responses to my articles. It’s kinda like a conversation with friends I rarely get to see face to face and a whole slew of friends I haven’t met yet. But I also get a charge out of reading what you folks have to say on a whole spectrum of other subjects when I read your posts on other people’s articles.
Those of you who know me (read: been subjected to the AJ experience) know that I LOOOOOVE to talk. I’ll expound on any subject any time whether I know anything about it or not. My mother liked to say that I’d talk your arm off, then ask you how you got crippled. I’m interested in other folk. I’m interested in their ideas and opinions. And let me say right here, right now, ‘interested in’ is NOT to be confused with ‘in agreement with.’
I will agree that virtual anything (and when did ‘almost real’ take the place of ‘really real’ . . . doesn’t virtual come from the same Latin root as truth?) could never, ever replace the importance of face time. There’s a plethora of information that we garner in a person-to-person conversation with other humans . . . o.k. and sometimes our pets. We read their body English, facial expressions, the use of their eyes and hands. And for the most part this information is largely gathered and processed on a subconscious level. So, unless you have Skype, this isn’t available in virtual conversations. And that, my friend, can lead to problems and mis-understandings.
I guess the motto here should be: “When doing virtual conversation, keep hackles firmly in check.” There, print that out and tape it to the top of your computer.
Also, this virtual conversation may be one of the symptoms of getting old . . . conversations with one’s self. We used to say that Gramma was just talking to herself. Now we can dignify it as a ‘virtual’ conversation. See, who said civilization wasn’t making progress? I’ll check that out and get back to you.
So, in this virtual world in which we seem to live to a greater and greater degree, this virtual visit I have with a lot of you every morning is right up there with the conversations I have with my virtual visitors when I’m having my morning coffee out on my deck.
And for that, I say THANK YOU.
Adrienne Jacoby is a 40-plus-year resident of Shasta County and native-born Californian. She was a teacher of vocal music in the Enterprise Schools for 27 years and has been retired for 11 years.
A musician all her life, she was married to the late Bill Jacoby with whom she formed a locally well -known musical group who prided themselves in playing for weddings, wakes, riots, bar mitzvas and super market openings. And, oh yes . . . she has two children, J’Anna and Jayson.
