Doomscrolling

Learned a new term tonight. Decided to call somebody I hadn't talked to for quite a while, someone I met in Tennessee soon after I completed my second graduate degree. That was a long time ago. In fact, next year it will be 30 years ago. I think it was when I had just graduated and didn't have a college teaching job yet, when I went to teach Spanish at McMinn County High School in Athens, Tennessee. I survived there oe semester (I think they had a lot of turnover in Spanish teachers), and then got my college teaching job in Kentucky. He was teaching Industrial Arts, we went to Applebee's one time for dessert or something and just kept in touch with a few letters and occasional phone calls. That's all, we haven't seen each other since, but we've kept in touch. I don't know how long it's been since I had talked to him, but it just was on my heart to call him and check on him, and I'm glad I did, and he was glad I did. He texted me a picture of his new little dog that has taken the place of his late little dog, and the dog is my friend's only physical companion. We talked until I needed to let him go play fetch the rope with his dog. I've been thinking a lot about what friendship is and who are our friends, and I think there are many definitions, but I count this person a friend indeed. He is alone and not happy about that, and I have heard about that off and on for many years, and I just noticed he hadn't called me for a long time, and he is usually the one who calls. I felt a strong pull in my heart to reach out to him, and I think it was what I was supposed to do. He apologized for not staying in touch and told me of his latest move for a job that didn't work out because of his difficulty seeing and hearing. I just let him know I was thinking about him and praying for him, and it took very little effort on my part. Anyway, what is the term? You've probably heard it: "doomscrolling." I had not heard it before. Here's Wikipedia's definition: "Doomscrolling or doomsurfing is the act of spending an excessive amount of time reading or watching large quantities of user-generated content or news, particularly negative news, on the web and social media. The concept was coined around 2020, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic." In other words, he told me he is addicted to the "pocket computer," that is, his smartphone. I wonder how many others we know could say the same. Spending too much time on the phone, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, can indeed be described as addictive. Even if you don't call it that, and don't think it's a problem, most will admit it is addictive and they spend too much time doing it. So, I am not going to go on and on about this, I'm just going to share that I am glad I reached out to a personal friend. It didn't cost me anything and it meant a lot to him. It meant a lot to me actually, as well, and probably was a positive antidote for the doomscrolling addiction, whether or not I want to admit that I also can confess that same weakness, and no matter how addicted you think you are or not, there may be someone you know that would appreciate a phone call or a text or an email, since we no longer seem to want to bother the trees by writing on cards and letters with pen and ink. I won't go on and on about that either, as I am committed to keeping these things short for the time being, so bon soir, au revoir, mes amis, sweet dreams and goodnight.