Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Lifestream





Best comparison would be a flatbed trolley carrying two car engines being pushed across the corridor.  The vibration from the steel bearings as the wheels roll over the uneven floor could be felt  in our workspace. Only that, it wasn't a flatbed trolley rumbling. In a matter of seconds, the entire building began swaying. As our heads become woozy and our vexed eyes lock at the door, we know what was happening.

The ground was shaking.

Conventional wisdom tells us that we should put our hands over our heads and seek cover under the table. But realizing the urgency to share a reaction, to find relief  knowing that a collective alarm howls over the Internet, I left a log on Twitter to convey my deepest  fear.





Humans are highly sociable creatures capable of doing everything  to express their deepest thoughts.  I was in state of panic, scared that the temblor might get violent as seconds pass and the shaking never ceases. Instead of letting my self-preserving instincts take over, processing went to letting my fingers tap the keyboard - all  - caps, just to tell what was happening at that moment.

When the tremor was over and saw  how the timeline on Twitter was suddenly got flooded with Tweets about the earthquake, I realized how technology changed the way we react. Gone are the days when we would scream on top of our lungs to show our distress, or mum about something  than  let things go overboard.  We now  tend to speak more with our mind, rather than convey our thoughts with our mouth.  The state of alarm I channeled online was more evident than what my agents felt.  When two of them asked to have a break, I was already calm and composed to allow them to go.

While this blog entry talks about my musings after the earthquake and how our frantic nature increasingly manifest themselves in social media in the face of  such events,  I'll end this with some funny scenarios where the urge to broadcast oneself overrules what instincts and sensibilities have taught us.





   

*Miss Phuket picture borrowed without permission from Miss Chuniverse.

6 comments:

Kiks said...

you made me laugh sa kalagitnaan ng humdrums of my ever-busy life as a person.

ako ang nangholdap sa yo and i am now looking at your photos. uploading next!

claudiopoi said...

maygash. totoo yung rape at cocaine? pasenxa. guliver pa naman ako! :)

Spiral Prince said...

I've been thinking about that, too. How we our thoughts don't pass through our mouths anymore, and I think this thing could go towards either end of the spectrum depending on the circumstances.

At talagang magtweetweet ka pa talaga bago mo ibigay ang cellphone mo? :))

Nimmy said...

natuwa ako sa post na 'to kuya. guilty ako dun sa scream on top of our lungs to show our distress. hihi

Mugen said...

Nimmy:

Once lang. Once lang ako nagfalsetto dahil sa isang tipaklong. Lolz

Spiral Prince:

Kapag may gumawa non, expect mong highly disciplined yung taong yun. Imagine na sabihan mo yung holdaper na "Teka muna no! Magtwetweet pa ako!" bago mo ibigay yung phone mo.

Mugen said...

Claudiopoi:

Asa! Hahaha.

Kiks:

Ayos ba? Mas brutal yung mga ideas ko, nag back out lang ako nung huli. Haha.