I walked into my third period class like any other day and took my seat. The class consisted of me mostly keeping my eyes glued to my computer screen and rigorously completing work for my class. It was one of those classes where the students surrounding me and I were dead silent, and the closest thing to noise I could hear was the clicking of people’s keyboards.
When the bell rang my classmates and I all rushed to grab our phones from the phone holders. I scrolled through my phone, checking if there was anything I missed. And while checking my notifications is usually un-suspenseful, this time I saw a message that caught me off guard. It was from my dad- “Did you feel the earthquake?? Are you ok??”
I had to re-read the message a couple of times to process it. “What earthquake?” I thought.
Then, my phone started buzzing non-stop, with my friends posting on their Snapchat stories about the earthquake. I couldn’t make sense of it. How did everyone feel about the earthquake except me?
As I walked into my next classroom, it seemed like everyone was talking about it. My teacher told the suspenseful story about how she was in the library when she felt the table shake, and as she looked around she saw the bookshelves shaking as well. Many students started sharing their stories as well.
Later that day, at home scrolling through my phone, my friends started posting their stories- again. Without thinking too much of it, I clicked on the stories, and what I saw made my jaw DROP. ‘Omg guys, another earthquake’ I read. The town had experienced the aftershocks, and I, once again, missed the cataclysmic event.
I know it’s been a while since the earth moved here in Westport, but I still think about it, and ask myself repeatedly: how is it possible that I missed an earthquake TWICE?
I’ve come up with only one possible explanation: technology.Each time the earth shuddered, I had either been typing on my computer, or mindlessly scrolling through short video clips of meme videos.
I missed earthquakes because I let screens consume my time and attention. So, that made me think: what else have I been missing? I wonder.
