Imagine you woke up one morning and there was no Internet. Radio was a relatively new, and untrusted,
phenomenon. To learn of world events,
you had to read a newspaper. But to
learn news relevant to you, especially what your friends and neighbors were up
to, you were limited to a landline telephone, the postal service, and physical
interactions with others. A fantastic
world, you say? Not at all. I’m merely describing life a century ago, in
the early twentieth century.
In his Mapp & Lucia novels, E. F. Benson depicts life in
English villages in the 1920s and 30s.
We view events largely through the eyes of the fashionable set, people
who have made or inherited their money, and live as graciously and comfortably
as they can. Of course, they all want to
be thought well of. In a world without
easily accessible entertainment such as television or Youtube, they hope to be invited to
all the best parties and social events.
No one must ever have cause to exclude them! So after scanning the newspapers every
morning, they go into town, and while walking around the square, or visiting
the shops, they ask each other if they’ve heard any interesting news. Likewise, their servants must pick up the latest news about their friends,
neighbors, and rivals whenever they leave the house.
With so much “news” flying around, one’s status in society
could rise and fall by the hour. So,
while gathering the most reliable and relevant news, a person like Mapp or
Lucia also dispensed “news” that presented her in the best possible light. Of course, only the simple-minded personally
stated such positive stories. The intelligent
person hinted at the news she wished to convey, then relied on her friends and
servants to confirm the veracity of her story.
A newcomer to the Mapp & Lucia series, or books
about life in English villages of that era, might wonder if people back then
were more self-absorbed. But people today
are just as hungry to learn information relevant to them, and to correct
misunderstandings so that their friends, employers, and peers think the best of
them. So we use tools like our
Blackberry, tablet, computer, or smartphone, and access sites like Facebook and
Twitter to keep informed. All that
changes is the way that we access and dispense that information.
Of course, some folks just look more fashionable than the rest of us while doing so.
Dragon Dave
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