Look Down, Look Down
As I was walking home from work on 42nd St last Monday, I realized that my Ipod shuffle (that my sister gave for my bday 2 years ago) had the slow voice of a little girl even if the songs were supposed to be fast and male. I finally had a reason to retire it, and took a deotur to the fabulous Appl Store on Fifth Ave/57th Street.
So I got myself a fuschia Ipod Nano that matches my Moto very well. The ‘cashiers’ there are so cool because they are walking cash registers. If you are purchasing by credit card, you can just buy from these tehcno-geeky guys and they’ll email you the receipt. No lines!
So I go home with a new ipod. Though I was set to enjoy the songs, it’s the ‘Brick’ game that got me addicted. This, coming from someone who looked down on guys who spend so much time playing video games and living their virtual lives instead of their real lives.
I honestly couldn’t wait to get some idle time to play with catching the ball. I didn’t want the bus to move. I didn’t want the train to reach my destination. I don’t even see who I’m walking past, who I’m sitting with and or standing next to. I just looked down at the ball and the brick the whole time. A hour of washing clothes didn’t seem long enough to be the champ of the game. In the past four days, it was just me and my Ipod.
The worst part of it is it being a holiday today, I slept til 1pm (went to bed at 4am), had brunch, watched a video and played with my Ipod for hours. It was so hard to put it down, it took the battery to die for me to stop. This is such a different day from others. I always ask myself what I’ve done with my precious day. I don’t want to say I looked doown at balls and bricks. Anyway, I had a record high score of 243. I’m over it. (I hope.) It’s bad enough not to hear the sounds of NY City. It’s worse not to see its sights too just because we’re looking down. I always said that to continue being amazed by the city, just look up.
So now I miss my low-class shuffle. it might have kept my ears occuppied. But at least I’m looking straight ahead. Ipods are bad enough in terms of taking your ears away from the city and your fellow men. Portable video games take your eyes away too.
I shared this funny story with Gloria last Sunday, and she in turn told me about going to a vacation in Greece with her friend. She didn’t realize, it was going to be her, her friend, and her friends’ Blackberry at the beach and everywhere else. The friend always just looking down to her screen. I hope not get a Blackberry. I don’t want to stare at my email my whole waking life.
