Down by the Riverside: Paradise lost or the age of cellphone dictatorship

(View from my terrace)


ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE


I am living virtually on the brink of a lovely river facing the intense blue from panoramic windows where I can see Eider ducks swim by and Herons nest among the voloptuous and archaic foliage, bordered by two beautiful lakes, and yet only have a ten minutes walk to reach the picturesque centre of a 17th century old town, built decoratively by the Danes and German Hansa constructors and kept reasonably intact. (My province Skåne was Danish territory in those times).

There is a narrow stripe for chirpy and industrious excercise fanatics mingeled with bird watchers in between my small garden and the waters, an ideal path for a relaxing promenade enjoying the florishing wilde apple trees or the hawthorn shrubs protected by the beeches and the willow trees. It may seem like a haven, and, when the anorectic diet people aren´t having their rush hour, it used to be.

Sitting on my terrace I could hear the nightingales and larks from the surrounding fields but they have moved elsewhere. Since the introduction of apps and technical devices of all possible use or design I hear the perpetual babble from running, walking or Interval Training health freaks or the speedo dressed mountain bikers chatting at the top of their lungs via their cell phones or hands off, watching a movie on their android (sic!), texting, facebooking, twittering and apping while passing a landscape they totally ignore or take no notice of.

I was scared witless when the first hands off appeared because I was not familiar with the technique. I saw crowds of defiling individuals seemingly speaking loudly to themselves, and since it coincided with a major psychiatric reform reducing hospitalization I thought that Psychosis had had a major breakthrough in treatment to come to terms with the horrible suffering, something which was not that farfetched because people nowdays are prescribed exercise instead of pills, something I by no means oppose to. I still find it uncomfortable meeting people in nylon jumpsuits talking out loud with both their hands buisy grabbing the chips and doughnuts.

Swedes are internationally known as an unobtrusive and silent people. We usually speak in a very low key which is a peasant heritage not to scare the wits off the cattle or the game when hunting but the modern technique has dramatically changed all that. Possibly because open air coverage may be poor, people are screaming into their devices and the habit has spread, not only to puberty stricken youngsters, but to all ages and conditions, anywhere or everywhere with or without phone and standing right in front of each other. In the bigger stores you are entertained with Guns and Roses or Also sprach Zarathustra as elevator music. The louder, the better.

Yes, you can still effortlessly find a forrest uncontaminated by the human mayhem but otherwise there is now way to escape it. I cannot for the life of me understand why I have to get insights in private conversations about what´s for dinner or when American Idol is on when I am riding a bus, a train, in a library, in every supermarket and in the streets, but that´s me..

A grumpy old man!

The herons are still nesting across the river unless they have been replaced with photoshopped copies but I believe I can still see them move...


Douglas Modig 2012