human contact

we homosapiens are programmed to be tribal - we define ourselves through social circles – from families to communities to countries.  Over eons we have set up boundaries and raged battles within and across those boundaries. Modern tribes can range from a group of strangers at Starbucks or 100,000 screaming soccer/football fans and everything in between. Music concerts are as much about the experience of thousands of people elbow to elbow than it is about the music and a stage one can barely see.

     will we ever see this again?

This COVID19 pandemic has pulled the rug of human contact experiences out from under us. I miss that human experience.  Living alone in a remote forest sanctuary has many, many blessings, but I direly need human contact at least once a week – even something as lame as sitting in a crowded Starbucks.

Lately I’ve enjoyed waiting in long lines at the market. Hey, it’s as close I can get to human contact(lessness?). It feels like a community: a common goal, a common feeling and some sort of solidarity that we’re all in this together.

Even going to a drive through a take out eatery is now a social experience, because there are dozens of other people in line. I hate the concept of drive-thrus from an environmental standpoint: idling cars, laziness, marginal food, all in the pursuit of...

...‘saving time’ which is an oxymoron - what is time?  

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We identify ourselves through crowds.  Just think about a political rally or a sports/music event.  “If you go to the World Cup or a rock concert, it’s not just a commercial transaction,” said Priya Parker, author of

“The Art of Gathering.”    “It’s also an

expression of identity.”


But every now and then my feathers get ruffled. Like at Trader Joes the other day, where an employee politely asked me to turn around because I was walking in the wrong direction of a ‘one-way aisle’ – who knew? To look at the floor for direction arrows. I snarkly remarked that I didn’t see the traffic lights. If everyone is wearing masks (mandatory in most stores) what’s the risk of coming within 6 feet of someone and their cart?  i know, i know...  my social dysfunction continues... 

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