Who Will See Me?

Outside information is always refreshing. But in the Gord Hanson world, there was always a danger of imploding on himself. A small one bedroom apartment on the six floor kept him away from the outside world. Always inside, and by himself, was comfortable but at the end of each day he felt tired. Any new information only came via computer. He didn’t get mail - all his bills came in his email. He ordered food in. He had a complete gym full of equipment that he used religiously every day. He seldom went out to do laundry. Who was going to see him anyway? When he ran out of clothes, he took the back stairs down to the laundry room. A thick sci-fi book with him, he kept his head down to read, hoping no one would come in and bother him.

A knock on his door startled him. He had to buzz people in, they couldn’t just walk up and knock on his door. But there it was - a tiny knock. If he hadn’t been walking by the door, he wouldn’t have heard it. Cautious and curious, he looked through the peephole and could barely see the top of a little blonde head. Making sure the chain was on, he opened his door just a crack.  “Hi, mister. My name is Bobby. I live in the next suite. We’re new here and just moved in last weekend. I go to school online. My mom and dad decided to keep me home but I’m bored. They had to go to work and I don’t have anyone to talk to. If I go out on our balcony, would you come out on yours? I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, but then we wouldn’t be strangers.” Gord hesitated, looked up and down the hall and said “Ok.”

~~~~~

Gord and Bobby met everyday after that, at two o’clock sharp. They played games on their computers, Gord helped Bobby with his homework, Bobby told Gord about the outside world. When his parents took him to a park or a beach, Bobby live streamed a video to his friend’s sixth floor apartment. Later they talked about being outside, the sun on the water, the bird’s nests in good climbing trees and walking on the grass. One day, Gord asked Bobby “Do you ever have picnics?” Bobby had gotten used to his friend’s strange ways so wasn’t weirded out by his question. “Sure. Do you want to go on a picnic with us sometime?” Gord was quiet for a long time and said “Yes. Ask your parents if it’s ok and tell me.”

~~~~~

That night, Gord did his laundry.

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? 

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

~ T.S.Eliot, The Rock