Years of Sundays III

“Is it?” the man in the top hat asked dubiously. “What makes you think that? I mean what do we do with our free time after all? We spend money, much more money then people in the past did, because we have the time to spend it. We grow lazy as well, if you think that everyone does productive things in this free time you’re wrong. That time isn’t generally spent improving ourselves, it’s spent in front of forms of electrical entertainment.”

“You don’t have to say it with such scorn, I’m sure even you watch TV occasionally,” I pointed out.

“No, I don’t have a television or a computer and I am happy like that,” the man said proudly. I will admit that at this point, more then any other part of the conversation, I wondered if I wasn’t sitting next to some sort of space alien.

“So what you want to do is turn the rest of us into people like you, people who define your lives by your work rather then what you do for fun?” I asked. The man in the top hat laughed.

“Not at all, that would be boring, wouldn’t it? It’s more fun if I’m different. I was simply playing devils advocate and pointing out to you that society isn’t necessarily improving, nor is it getting worse. It’s just changing after all. You were so set on the idea things were getting better that I couldn’t help but point out the flaws of your arguments.” With that the man in the top hat stood up and walked off, leaving me sitting like an idiot on the bench.

I am not trying to claim that my life changed because of that meeting, because it didn’t. I did gain; I suppose you could say, a new hobby however. I have taken an interest in those people whose hobby is living the in past. They take a lot of time to find anything out about, because most of them don’t chose to communicate through computers or television. Instead I find myself reading more recently then I think I have in a very, very, long time.

I am not about to become on of those people who wears a top hat and speaks to strangers about the nature of society, I still don’t even know that guy’s name, but I will take an interest in those people who do. I guess researching modern people is a weird hobby to have, but I figure a lot of people have it, I’m just being more honest then they are and admitting it.