I have an acquaintance who tells me I’m neurodivergent, something I’ve never considered before. It’s true that I have a great deal of sensitivity to light, heat, and environment, and I’m uncomfortable in crowds or parties. Does that make me classifiable as this new, trendy thing? Or is it just that the world is so intrusive, things speed by so fast, and life is ultra “noisy?” Back when I was younger (a long time ago, to be fair), the world wasn’t this loud. There was time to process, think, and breathe.

I remember way back to when the telephone was on a s special “Telephone table” in the front hall where everyone could hear the occasional call coming in. The phone itself was tethered to a cord, and if you wanted to make a call, you called the operator. My childhood phone number was Hunter 7-4260. HU-7-4260 when dial phones came in, and the operators lost their jobs.

Image by Grok.

Advances in technology often shift the employment landscape. I had a job as a legal secretary way back when I was pregnant with my second child. These days, we cringe at the word “secretary,” but given that most of my time was spent typing documents into my Selectric typewriter, which had a memory where they could indeed be stored and subsequently retrieved by the pool of typists tasked with polishing and revising and creating final documents, the job title seemed apt. Boring work, with zero creativity, but I was (for once in my life) sitting in a chair rather than running around a kitchen, something deemed “better” during pregnancy.

Mind you, back then, you couldn’t just email a document as an attachment—there was no email. If I recall right, my Selectric could store 50 pages. That was considered a huge advance.

I don’t watch much TV, and what I do watch, I tend to record so I don’t have to see the ads. But when some sports are on the TV, and my husband catches up during the game, I do notice some of the ads. They always make me gape in wonder.

Am I so old that I can look at an ad (not the drug ads; those are pretty clear) and have zero idea what it’s for? The images pass by so fast, and all seem disconnected from one another—a point is being made, but what point? Other than that, I always notice that, while we are an incredibly diverse people, whites rarely get ad acting jobs.

Mostly, I have no idea what message is being sent and what product is being sold. If I do get what it is, I wonder why anyone would want it. Whole body deodorant? Do we stink that much? Have our youth forgotten how to shower? What does the picture I’m seeing have to do with whatever beer they’re selling? Is insurance now the subject of absurd slapstick “comedy” that is anything but funny?

My point here: Maybe, instead of me being some sort of neurodivergent freak, it’s society that has turned itself into a freakshow. All I can say is, when I take a walk, the last thing I want to do is text or talk on the cell phone the whole time. I prefer watching the squirrels and birds, paying attention to the falling leaves, my dog, the dog he’s just noticed up the street, thank you.

I’m betting that my grandkids, if we sat them down in front of an episode of Leave it to Beaver or Lassie, would be bored to tears. How sad!