A YEAR DOWN tTHE DRAIN?
DON’T FLUSH JUST YET....
Well it’s been about a year since the big toilet paper rush of 2020 when single rolls of toilet paper. Had been on the market for just north of $60. America and it’s ultra-responsive business and industry really stepped up and Shazam we weathered the great TP crisis. Just another problem wiped out. In fact one might say that the shelves are flush with all types of the stuff. Unfortunately some of the results from the pandemic and our response to it still leave our lives either full of crap we haven’t figured out or missing things that we once experienced in a normal flow of daily life. Oh ... are we still fixated on the bathroom here? Well a little so let’s treat this social constipation and move forward or downward so to speak.
There is no such thing as a socio-cultural toilet into which we could dump the past twelve months and even if there were it might be a good idea to take a closer look at what we might want to deposit into it. For example some of our daily routines have gone into the dumper and some of them should stay while others might be retrieved, modified and our time devoted to work/family/recreation and their settings could be portioned differently. Some relationships have been strengthened by the fiber of spending more time with folks while others have most definitely become little better than waste product. ...This analogy could go on and on...yet..let’s look at the real world.
What may have become apparent in the last year is that seeking peace and joy with others frequently depends on finding a common starting point for two or more people. You have to find something. In common. Well we all eliminate bodily waste so we have that in common — or do we? In a recent issue of “Wired” magazine they featured highlights from the virtual consumer electronics expo and one of the innovative items was a hi-tech toilet. Now this throne is capable of being operated remotely to raise and lower the seat which can be heated. It can be operated with an app on your phone and can play music while you go. Now that’s not even close to all... When you go this computerized commode can analyze your deposits and give you a medical report based upon the make-up of what your body provides. And you thought the internet was getting a little too intrusive? Your White Cloud is getting replaced by the cyber cloud. You may wonder if this analysis includes telling you what you had to drink the night before? Those details were’nt given, but who knows...and instead of using urine on a little reactive strip...how would it be to have your outhouse announce that you are having a baby? Clearly some scientists are spending time studying the virus and other diseases and should continue doing so. Some engineers are working on self-driving and assisted driving vehicle to make the roads safer. Some folks are analyzing how to insure safer and more reliable sources for water and electricity and well...I guess other talented folks are “bringing up the rear” so to speak.
Now all this brings me back to the seeking peace and joy point... we have some thinking to do about what to keep and what to change. We all have some things in common but maybe we need to take a moment to understand we don’t always give the same meanings to our experiences including going to the toilet. It is important to seek peace and joy with a spirit of sharing and reaching common meanings when possible. We won’t all have access to or want “super toilets” and some folks with disabilities. Still don’t have access to enough of them yet (listen to the musical offering).
In the end we have the capacity to reflect on many things and reach some common ground and regardless of where anyone sits if we create empathy and work things out everything will come out fine.
Loved this one!
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