I stole this from Old NFO
The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of “Men who wanted to be left Alone”. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love.
They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over.
The moment the “Men who wanted to be left Alone” are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these “Men who wanted to be left Alone” will fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives.
They fight with raw hate and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these peoples’ doors, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the “Men who wanted to be left Alone”.
– Author unknown
I had a good conversation with my son about social media last night. Many young kids ignore Facebook, as there are too many old people there and it limits their interest in the social aspect of it. For me, being almost 6 months out from quitting most forms of social media, and happier for it, I understand him. My daily dose of outrage is not something I find addictive any longer. Hell, I even read the shampoo bottle on the toilet the other day. First time in years.
One of the parts of sailing professionally is that your world would shrink to mostly just the space inside the hull. Your boat became the sum of the world for practical purposes. In many ways that was actually nice, right up until you get to miss people bad enough that it's not. Modern technology makes that quite a bit less of an event than it used to be, of course. I rarely leave sight of land these days, so I get to say goodnight to my wife every single night at work. It was a treat to do an offshore passage a while back, to not have to be available by phone for every little thing, to focus on the moment.
Anyhow, last few days at home. I have barely left my yard these past two weeks. I wanted to be left alone and I was. Inappropriately Hot Foreign Wife and I have barely been apart in that time. To that end, it'll make both of us desire more of the same sense of privacy by spicing it with a trip to work next week, I suppose.
1 comment:
I know what you mean about the communication issues. I remember when I started sailing, we had to find a telephone office in town somewhere and stand in line to call home. It was so nice to get mail when we got to port. No one had a phone on board (no such thing as cel phones at home either). Before we had all the electronics, it seemed we had more time for other things including time for each other. We were much more social (in person). Everyone had a hobby of some sort- playing an instrument, making some kind of art, even the traditional knot work. We read and would discuss what we were reading. People would hang out and enjoy each others company after watch. Now everyone heads straight to their room for TV or internet.
I decided a few years ago I would never go out on another job where I didn't have internet access. Since I'm single, I have to take care of all of my business online. Coming home after 3-4 months with no contact, everything would be a total mess. No bills paid, checks missing so no money, etc. Years ago, people understood that we were cut off from the world and would cut us some slack. That is no longer acceptable, everyone just assumes we have smart phones and that they work like normal when we're at sea.
I'm addicted to my email, but starting to think more and more that the amount of time and energy I spend online is not a good thing for me. It's just so hard now to find ways to get involved in real life as compared to the ease of doing it online.
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