Black and White

Driving down the street, on our way to get a treat at Sonic, Joel and I began talking about Sonic booms. I reminisced about my childhood when I heard jet airplanes overhead break the sound barrier resulting in a resonant bass sound that caused the windows to shake and the dishes to rattle. As a small child, it was rather frightening, but when my dad explained the cause, it became rather exhilirating to imagine the speed of the jet that could move faster than sound.

Explaining to Joel about Sonic booms, I moved into my "cliche" mode of talking where I began a repetitive series of quasi-complaints about modern culture. It is my own ironic brand of making fun of people who want to return to the "good old days." When I get going, it can be quite entertaining and absolutely harmless, with shades of sarcasm and irony thrown in for sheer joy of the moment. So I pontificated about the days when girls didn't call boys, and when you didn't have to pump your own gas, and when there was only one kind of coffee, and very few radio stations to hear. I moved into television and began talking about the days of antennae on the tv and having to watch everything in black and white. Suddenly, although he had been silent for quite a while (a normal response to my routine!), he asked me a question. "Dad, was everything in black and white in the good old days?" I said, "Yes Joel, we didn't get a color television until I was older." "No, I mean was everything in black and white?"

I sat stunned for a minute as I thought through his question. Was his perspective of the world based on television? If all on the television were black and white, did that make the world black and white as well? Did he not understand the development of science and technology and that television is a reflection of advancing technology? Or was the question actually latently perceptive? Has the growth and hypercharge of technology actually colored our world? Were we figuratively and collectively more "black and white" many years ago?

Our world is complicated by choice, by color, by a blending and amalgamation of styles, cultures, values, concepts, interests, and preferences. Having choices is part of the joy of our world and part of the excitement of living. The entertainment world seems to be a manifestation of the complexity and color that we live with each and every day. This makes our perception of reality to be both confusing and ever-changing, a sort of wonderland or even Disneyland of options.

Yet for Joel perhaps he would prefer less choice, fewer options. Perhaps his world is black and white and maybe in some ways he is better off with his perception. I like the choices, I like the color, and I like the complexity, but it sure can make for a lot of decisions!