Novelty

Because my plane came in 10 hours late and no restaurants were open, and because I skipped my free breakfast to frantically search for an internet cafe and my separated travelling companions, the first food I had in Costa Rica was a bag of ham pizza flavored chips, bought for a long bus ride. (For the record, yes, they tasted like ham pizza. Or rather like pizza flavored chips with ham added. Which is to say, they tasted like ham pizza flavored chips. A lot of words to say nothing).

It was a novelty purchase. But it made me notice the number of people texting on the bus; these weren´t rich people-- they lived in little tin roof buildings on the side of the road, with clothes hanging out to dry and rusty dead cars in the yard. Cell phones and texting must require some measure of sacrifice. Is it a novelty for the culture, or a legitimate need? Cell phones are being held up as a modernizing force in Africa, one that will liberate people and lift them from poverty. Is that possibly true? Or just slick PR from Sony and AT&T? I´m always amazed at airports by the way businesspeople stay so busy on their Blackberries, organizing and rescheduling and ¨touching base¨. But where there is no business, can cell phones be any more than a lazy way to pass the time?

I don´t think I´ve ever seen a local reading on a bus. I don´t know if books are unavailable, or if reading is not a priority. Maybe the people are semi-illiterate.

My first impression is that cell phones should not be driving social change. Looking at my own life, however, of all the monthly bills I´ve given up-- rent, electricity, water-- the cell phone has stubbornly hung on. Is that desire for communication and connection an innate urge? Or an unhealthy addiction?