Communication Fix Up

This week, month, whatever the fuck the lapse of time has been, is about communication. Be that on a macro or micro level. And when I’ve looked up what that means in a dictionary, I’ll tell you if its appropriate or not.

And how the modern world lets us communicate. What with having SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, House Party, Zoom, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, memes, platitudes, clapping in the street and smoke signals (oh wait that was the neighbour having a crafty smoke in their back garden, still I’m pretty sure the smoke signal he made was “tell the world I’ve met a dolphin and we’re in love!”), we’ve never been so in touch with not being in touch with people.

Video chats offer up lots of opportunities, to have fun from the safety of your own home. For example, I’ve done lot of online quizzes. This is where I spend my time staring at a video of myself while people ask questions, I don't know the answer to. Which is a welcome break from work where I spend my time staring at video screen whilst...

I do wonder when we return to talk to people in real life we might suffer ‘video lag syndrome’ where we pause and stare at the person for a while we wait for them to hear what we’ve said and answer.

Communication in the US is going well, in fact most people would say it’s the best communication ever. It helps where they are led by someone who has a good…you know what…And thanks to this leadership it seems there has been a huge surge in gun sales. As everyone knows the best way to deal with a virus is 9mm parabellum. (“Quick shoot that Covid son of a bitch! USA USA!”) And if the suppressive fire doesn’t get you then the disinfectant or UV light might.

The medium of music can communicate mixed messages in these times. I know it's an upbeat little number, but I'm not sure the Co-Op really should have been playing ‘You can get it if you really want’ on its in-store radio. Other songs coming to you on ‘Now That’s What I call Co-Op music 19’ includes ‘Down With Disease’ by Phish, ‘Mystery Disease’ from MGMT, ‘Girlfriend in a coma’ by The Smiths and ‘This Disease’ from Gary Numan’. Now Pop Pickers enjoy the high-quality Co-Op own brand Bruschetta.

The communication of companies through adverts has taken a subtle shift too. Where the previous emphasis of "use your money to buy our shit you don't need. Now!!" has moved to "we know times are tough right now. But, we're on your side. So, buy our shit you don't actually need to get through this, we’re in this together." Or alternatively, the situation right now has sharp focused that we waste a lot of money on things we really don't need, that don't actually improve our lives, and we now have a greater understanding of what is actually important, so we can see what a total irrelevance these products are and always were, so maybe these companies should leave us the fuck alone, the soulless vampires. Although that new i-phone does look rather shiny…

No, what matters is people and the ones you love and that will always exist be it on the end of a phone, video, a daft message or (eventually) in a room together. Hold onto that. Take care.