Politics as Usual

The chasm between the ideologies of the two main parties in this country is ever-widening. Perhaps because it is an election year, the differences are more apparent and it appears even less likely that the gap between them can ever be bridged. Both sides believe its way is the right way and no amount of discourse seems to sway the other. I cannot go anywhere these days without the talk turning to this two-party system: the party who lives their lives on social media … and the party who I simply cannot relate to at all.

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you know I’m firmly ensconced in the “if you don’t post it, it didn’t happen” camp. I post what I'm doing and enjoy reading others’ posts about what they're doing and feeling like I am part of their lives even if we don’t often get together IRL (that’s “in real life” for those in the other faction). 

I felt very strongly about my position even before this past weekend when the magic of social media facilitated a mini-reunion with a woman I’ve known since we were 7 but have not seen in about 15 years. On Friday, I posted a check-in from the hotel where I was staying in New York City and my friend wrote she was staying at a hotel a few blocks away. As my hotel hosts a complimentary wine hour each night, I invited her to come over and partake. And she did. And we laughed and caught up and it was a blast. And of course, we took a photo and posted it to Facebook to commemorate the event, because otherwise, what's the point?

And the social media updates continued both en route to and at my cousin’s wedding out on Long Island on Sunday — a wedding during which I responded to other family members' posts and texts in real time, rather than walking one table over to talk to them. (You're rolling your eyes, aren't you?) So you can imagine how I felt when returning to Manhattan after the wedding and realizing I left my iPhone on the Long Island Railroad. (Aside: "My iPhone left me on the Long Island Railroad" will be the title of the first country song I pen.)

First of all, I could not find my husband and daughter who were meeting me at Penn Station, and, perhaps more traumatically, I could not change my status update to announce I was phoneless. I had to resort to having my husband paged over the public address system and making a collect call to his cell phone from a pay phone. (Look it up, kids.)

But it gets worse. The following day, without access to my iPhone, I actually had to engage in conversation with my husband during our drive home from New York. Don't get me wrong, I like talking to the guy, but since he bought a new fuel-efficient car, the conversation revolved entirely around how many miles per gallon he was getting — with updates every three minutes or so.

Unlike. 

Obviously, I could never live "off the grid." But in the spirit of nonpartisan debate, let me know if you do, and if so, why ...