Samhain                                                              Winter Moon

An unsubtle irony.  All those people bent over their phones, heads down, eyes focused on another world, the cyberworld, have become tiny islands, connected to seas not in evidence, influenced by information and persons not present.  It is as if gatherings of people have become insular, the very islands which we were not supposed to able to be, at least among those to whom we are physically present, but functionally absent.

Samhain                                                            Winter Moon

Carlson Toyota.  Getting the Rav4 oil changed and 30,000 mile diagnostics.  It was a busy Friday afternoon, not as I had hoped.  My reasoning went that if I got there before 3 pm I should be ahead of the after work crowd.  The reasoning probably wasn’t wrong exactly, but the conclusion I’d drawn was.  Other old folks were in there with their cars along with mothers with young children, all the folks that have available time in the afternoon like I do.

The crowd at Carlson has a much more diverse feel than its Anoka County location might suggest.  Yes, we’re a pretty white county in a pretty white state, but Carlson employs many Hmong and Vietnamese as mechanics (technicians) and back office workers.  When I spend time waiting for an oil change, it’s always clear that the customer base is 15-25% asian.  Not all Hmong or Vietnamese either.  A few Chinese and Koreans as well and today, in a beautifully colorful winter hat, I spied my first Tibetan there.  African-Americans are less frequent, but they are there.

I watched one young African-American going over his bill, in detail, with a tall asian woman who looked Chinese.  She had a full head of black falling curls and at first, from a distance, I thought she was African-American, but when the encounter finished she headed back to her office and her asian features were apparent.  It is after all an asian car company and I suppose that has some influence.

Having a lot of time, an hour plus, much of which I spent reading Toppling Qaddafi, a change in behavior that everyone knows but goes little remarked was the shoulders slightly hunched, head bowed prayerfully, fingers flicking over the small hand held computer we insist on calling a phone.  This behavior is so common that it seems ordinary yet even 5 years ago it would have been unusual to see almost all of the adults in the waiting area, maybe 30 people, at one point or another assuming this position.

Almost does not include a certain contingent of older white males who either had constraint or had not yet entered the smartphone era.  Kate hasn’t.  Below that strata though, everybody had their phone out at some point.

Though the screen of choice for me was my kindle paperwhite, I still dutifully checked my e-mail, the weather and my calendar.  I rarely use the phone app, but I’m right there praying to the wireless gods to bring me good information, soon.  Right now.

Oh.  Yeah.  Oil change.  Multi-point inspection.  Changing of air filters in the cabin.  The cabin.  When the did the front seat area become a cabin?  Other various lubes, fluids and filling tires with air.  $152.  Worth it because a well-maintained Toyota is a thing of beauty forever.  Well, maybe a thing of transportation for ever.  Still a good deal.