At least theoretically we all know that the world we live in is so large that the entire world is not in one "time zone" or even on the same calendar page. Thanks to the technology of instant communication we've all gone into that future posited by the science fiction writers: we travel through the dimensions of time and space, going forward and backwards at will.
But have you ever stopped to think about what it means to be talking to someone for whom it is tomorrow in the morning when it is still today in the evening where you are? How about the reverse? Speaking to someone for whom it is still yesterday while you are clearly in today already? It's strange to think that things can still be happening or yet to happen on a day that no longer exists for you.
With family and friends all over the globe, keeping in touch is as easy as picking up a phone or clicking with a computer mouse. We hear their voices or read their messages and we "know" that we are somehow present together. But I'm talking from your yesterday, and you are talking from my tomorrow.
This came to mind when I was thinking about a friend who shares my birthday, and yet she is always older than I am. She is halfway through our mutual birthday before it ever arrives for me.
We like to think that all our advancement has provided us with exact knowledge. Not so. The answer to "What time is it?" and "What day is it?" is now "That depends."
Strange wonders we are privileged to be a part of.
4 comments:
My brother married a girl from Australia and the wedding was there. We all came back to New york for the middle sheva brochos. Because we were flying backwards in time and because of when we left Australia we arrived back here and had the same day twice. Figuring it out we really had 8 days of sheva brochos.
Flew from London to the US and arrived here two minutes before the time we left London. Like all those flying hours didn't exist. Took a few days to get my body back used to being here.
Because of business my son was flying back and forth from Israel twice a month for most of a year. He took jet lag to a new level and had to arrange for a different schedule. He really never knew where he was and his whole sense of time was all messed up. Took his body weeks to finally adjust to being in one place.
I went with my husband on a business trip to Hong Kong and from there to Belgium, to LA and then home to NJ. I still can't figure out if I'm supposed to be eating breakfast or dinner in the morning. Forget not knowing when I'm supposed to go to sleep.
Post a Comment