海角大神

I聽am old enough to remember when, if I needed a phone number or an address, I dialed 鈥淥鈥� and a pleasant-voiced operator 鈥� invariably a woman 鈥� asked what they could do for me. I also remember travel agents: You told them where you wanted to go, and they found the best fare while making amiable chit-chat. And 鈥� sigh 鈥� I remember when I didn鈥檛 pump my own gas while standing in the pouring rain.

Automation certainly has its advantages. I am grateful for 24-hour ATMs, the convenience of being able to conjure knowledge from my laptop in the comfort of my home, and a cellphone that reliably performs myriad journeyman services.

But I also miss the interactions with people that these devices have displaced. The most precious byproduct of these interactions was the spontaneous, friendly banter that often erupted.聽

I recall, as a boy, listening to my mother placing a phone order with the butcher. Half the call consisted of laughter. When she hung up, she turned to me: 鈥淚 always feel better after talking to Patsy.鈥�

Yes, feeling better. After chatting with a waitress (鈥淥h, you鈥檙e working your way through college? How nice!鈥�), a postal employee (鈥淭his letter you mailed had the wrong ZIP code, so I corrected it and sent it on its way.鈥�), a bank teller (鈥淒oes your son still collect the state quarters? I put some aside for him.鈥�), or an airport agent (鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to Germany? My grandfather came from Germany. Have a good trip!鈥�), I feel better for no other reason than someone took the time to warm the encounter.聽

To this end, I recently decided to dedicate a day to accomplishing all of my goals in a nondigital manner. And so I rose early and set out on my analog odyssey.

I began by going 鈥� actually going 鈥� to the bank. When I entered the lobby I found that the world was my oyster: I was the only customer, with three tellers at my disposal. One of them remembered me from a long-ago visit and greeted me like the prodigal son. Her glow of recognition reminded me of something the playwright Moss Hart wrote in his autobiography: 鈥淭here is nothing that so quickly opens the floodgates of friendship and intimacy as that light in the other person鈥檚 eye that unmistakably signals a delight and pleasure in one鈥檚 company.鈥� After my transaction we chatted for a few minutes, sharing news about our children. After that pleasant exchange, I moved on to the post office, where the letter I was sending to Iceland sparked an elated comment by the clerk, who yearned to visit that country. I spent five minutes encouraging him.

There followed a visit to McDonald鈥檚, where I passed up the computer terminal in favor of ordering from a smiling employee; the supermarket where I walked past the self-checkout and was welcomed by a cashier, who suggested that for only one penny more I could get an additional artichoke; and a stop at the public library, where I asked the librarian to help me find a title I could have easily located by myself with a computer search. During our sojourn in the stacks we had the most wonderful conversation about Annie Proulx鈥檚 new book about fens, bogs, and swamps.

That evening I had dinner with a friend and, in the course of conversation, reported my experiment to her. She listened attentively but wasn鈥檛 buying. She remarked that I could have ordered stamps, shopped, banked, and ordered a book with my cellphone, and it would have taken less than an hour.聽

True, but I would have sacrificed all those kind words and friendly smiles, not to mention one precious artichoke.聽