Charade
Jedi Master
As children in the 60’s, at the ages of 10 and 12, my sister and I would talk about the day when there would be TV phones....
The cyborgs in Star Trek absolutely frightened me. I could no longer watch the show. The idea of being an half machine and half human but not having freedom and free will was terrifying to entertain. It seemed to me that that kind of evil existed.
Later in the book, Konstantin is talking to Raine, the heroine of the story, about his participation in a secret project and the following exchange takes place beginning with Konstantin:
Fast forward to the 1990’s. I am a production knitter. I own an electronic knitting machine that can be manually or motor driven and programmed to make varying stitches and color changes and patterns. It has a foot pedal. I would feel so synchronized with the machine that I began to imagine what if the machine could pick up my thoughts of the next step and the motion I would make to produce the desired result automatically? The production would be so simply accomplished. So unified. So eerily frightening because it seemed so possible.
Fast forward 2000’s. I am a flight attendant. People on the plane are so distracted and absorbed and dissociated by their IPhones that they ignore my presence and the hearing simple question of what do they want to drink when I am inches away. I imagine how easy my job would be if I could read their minds and not have to ask them. I play a game with myself of guessing what they will say. I am often right.
2020-present(forever) Masks must be worn at airports and on planes. Now it is hard to hear what people say they want to drink. I realize I was reading lips most of the time and now can’t. It is frustrating to bother to communicate simple requests. Most of the time I try to convey only the most necessary information. I consciously prefer to limit human interaction because it is so tedious.
2021. I draw my line in sand with TSA just weeks ago. No you won’t touch my groin area in a public or private screening with a women. How is that ok to you, I ask the agents. I am not able to work that day since I wouldn’t submit to their invasive procedures. It was terrifying to stand up to authority and not know or care what the repercussions would be. It’s just wrong. It’s a blatant personal violation.
It is so hard to stay positive or optimistic. Knowledge of the ‘man behind the curtain’ helps to lessen the traumatic experience but it is still so difficult to stand against what is happening and know it is not about the good of humanity. I don’t ever want to willingly give them my soul.
The cyborgs in Star Trek absolutely frightened me. I could no longer watch the show. The idea of being an half machine and half human but not having freedom and free will was terrifying to entertain. It seemed to me that that kind of evil existed.
Later in the book, Konstantin is talking to Raine, the heroine of the story, about his participation in a secret project and the following exchange takes place beginning with Konstantin:
Fast forward to the 1990’s. I am a production knitter. I own an electronic knitting machine that can be manually or motor driven and programmed to make varying stitches and color changes and patterns. It has a foot pedal. I would feel so synchronized with the machine that I began to imagine what if the machine could pick up my thoughts of the next step and the motion I would make to produce the desired result automatically? The production would be so simply accomplished. So unified. So eerily frightening because it seemed so possible.
Fast forward 2000’s. I am a flight attendant. People on the plane are so distracted and absorbed and dissociated by their IPhones that they ignore my presence and the hearing simple question of what do they want to drink when I am inches away. I imagine how easy my job would be if I could read their minds and not have to ask them. I play a game with myself of guessing what they will say. I am often right.
2020-present(forever) Masks must be worn at airports and on planes. Now it is hard to hear what people say they want to drink. I realize I was reading lips most of the time and now can’t. It is frustrating to bother to communicate simple requests. Most of the time I try to convey only the most necessary information. I consciously prefer to limit human interaction because it is so tedious.
2021. I draw my line in sand with TSA just weeks ago. No you won’t touch my groin area in a public or private screening with a women. How is that ok to you, I ask the agents. I am not able to work that day since I wouldn’t submit to their invasive procedures. It was terrifying to stand up to authority and not know or care what the repercussions would be. It’s just wrong. It’s a blatant personal violation.
It is so hard to stay positive or optimistic. Knowledge of the ‘man behind the curtain’ helps to lessen the traumatic experience but it is still so difficult to stand against what is happening and know it is not about the good of humanity. I don’t ever want to willingly give them my soul.
