In an attempt to instill some normalcy in my crazy life (I'm off to the US West Coast on Saturday morning), I decided to try get back to my old routine and so went walking at the coast early this morning. I set out before 6am and it was still dark. I parked in the usual place, turned on my shuffle (I am listening to The History of The Word, Updated by J.M. Roberts all 44 hours of it), and went walking on the breakwater.
The sun was just coming up behind me and the sea was as flat as a mirror. It was quite peaceful. But, something was bothering me. Over the cries of the birds and gentle lapping of the ripples against the rocks, I could hear talking. A walker, walking most upright, hared past jabbering into his cellphone. He had barely taken two steps when two women joggers approached both talking animatedly into their cells. I noticed that probably a full third of all those working out on the beach this morning were talking on phones while exercising. At first I thought it a pity that all these people are unable to disconnect and need to be in constant cellphone contact with the world. But, then the big question struck me. Who the hell are they talking to?
Its 6am in the morning. I assume most normal locals are either sleeping or getting their kids ready for school. 6am in Israel is 4 or 5am in Europe, so they cannot be chatting with the English or French. Its 11pm in New York so they surely cannot be putting in their sell calls with their Lehman Brothers brokers on Wall Street. Its only 8pm on the West Coast, so I suppose they could be chatting with cousin Yossi, the mover, in LA. Then it dawned on me, they are probably all talking to each other. The guys working out on the Sharon Beach are talking to the guys working out on Hof HaNehim, and the ladies jogging on the breakwater are chatting with their friends having a brisk early morning walk on Gordon Beach in TA. Its beautiful, it saves time, they're doing two things at once, so its really efficient. What a perfect way to start a power day, chock full of more cellphone calls. The only ones who suffer are the poor fools who get up early to try find some peace and quiet in this pressure cooker of a country.
A very long arm
15 hours ago
5 comments:
I can't help but ask the obvious - what is the difference between talking and listening on a cellphone and listening to a audiobook about the history of the world? Obviously you aren't making any noise of your own, but you're not really listening to the peace outside any more than the joggers. Of course, Israelis, like all true mediterraneans, love to talk loud and oblivious to the environmental impact it has on the fauna trying to bind its own business. So what you need, my man, is one of those noise dampening headphones. Pick one up while you're in the states. Let's just hope that once in the peaceful silence of your audiobook, you don't start wondering why are all these people gesticulating wildly with their arms and hands while they walk the sandy beaches of this land.
Marc
This is the best entry that you've written recently. (Helene's entry was worth keeping.) If I were a writing teacher, I'd give you an A for your descriptions alone. You sound like the perfect observer, like a thinker, and you shared your observations and thoughts, and made me feel connected to your experience.
This is great writing.
Then Marc came and and said, "Aha! But . . .!" LOL! His response is delicious. It taught me personal lessons too. It's amazing how two people see the same situation through different eyes. I suppose that's why two views are better than one.
You see Marc, I see work out time as a time to listen to my body (and an audiobook). Its about listening. I have noise cancellation headphones. I don't use them while walking, firstly its dangerous in Israel, you could easily get run over and secondly I really like to hear the sound of the sea. The thing that surprises me (I have been here 8 years so it doesn't really) is the absolute need for people to stay connected. I seem to remember reading that Israel has one of the highest percentage of people with cell phones in the world. People here live to talk. I know all this, I was just wondering who they talk to t that time of the day.
Thanks for the compliments Anonymous. Blogging has been a great writing exercise. The ones that I bash out in a hurry often turn out the best as I then have no time for filters and edits. We are all waiting for Marc to start his blog. I expect it will be more of a "100% blog" :-)
I think that your observation is brilliant and that your hypothesis is correct. I told Stav about this blog and she automatically said that those joggers must be talking to other joggers. She's pure Israelis, so she would know.
Though I also thought that they could be doing business. I hit the road at 6:30 every morning in order to beat the traffic. I actually don't beat the traffic, I just miss it when it gets really bad about 10 minutes later. The point is that Israelis start business very earlier. They are already on the phone in their cars from 5:30 on. So the joggers could be talking to the commuters who decided to live away from the centre in order to enjoy the quiet village life. Go and figure that one out?
I wonder what they talk about? I never understood how people could talk so much. But I'm just jealous because I don't believe that I have anything to say at 6:30 in the morning that anyone would want to listen to.
Marc
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