Salvatore (“Sal”) Hepatica, confirmed bachelor and recently retired, half-owner of a pharmacy in Elmhurst, Queens, returned to his small, neatly furnished apartment following his unvarying practice of taking his Saturday afternoon lunch, consisting of dark coffee and tuna melt sandwich with a half-sour pickle, at the local diner, “The Athenian Star.” Sal, as usual, placed his daily newspaper on the left arm of his large, exceedingly comfortable, easy chair, unzipped his light jacket, and then sat down, in a rare introspective and focused mood. Normally, he would have then unfolded and read his daily newspaper; yet, his present ruminations seemed to dominate his usual interest in its perusal, and thus, thoughtfully engaged, he slowly released his grip on his held newspaper, causing it to fall to his lap.
Such unusual, but profound, preoccupation, was prompted by a sudden, introspective guilty, pang by the realization of his ingratitude, for the beneficial acceptance of the universe of efficient services, delivered to him from the available overfull cornucopia of digitally robotic services, responsive to the receipt of his mere request. He inwardly declared that Mankind should, be appropriately, thankful to modern science and industry for such ubiquitous and effortless utility.
He proudly, and gratefully acknowledged that, with the sole, electively taken, exception of his regular three-block trek to the Athenian Star diner on early Saturday afternoons for his regular lunch, consisting of dark coffee, tuna melt sandwich with half-sour pickle, his life was fully subscribed and experienced from the simple, but satisfactory, universe of his comfortable reclining easy chair.
His necessary outreach was efficiently implemented by using his “smartphone.” This small, metallic device, habitually stowed in his handkerchief pocket, together with his clean tissues, was the effective gateway to the eclectic world. It was an easy chair venue for the effortless source of universal information, entertainment, music and videos, interactive conversation, photography, as a photo album, an avenue for the reading of literature and periodicals, for research, news and weather reports, directional services, historical and current facts, recipes and cooking instruction, health information, spectating sports, playing games, effecting purchases of goods and medicines, the procuring of services of every nature, travel, nature photography, national and worldwide weather information, advice on contemporary styles, economic reports and data, environmental hazards and any topic of interest or inquiry in every discipline.
Our contemplative, peacefully seated, protagonist reverentially, and lovingly, embraced his valued smartphone, effusively celebrating the lack of necessity to expend fruitless effort involved in seeking out other individuals, going to libraries, museums, lectures, foreign travel, sports arenas, and concert venues, movie theaters, sight-seeing excursions, stores for purchase of such items as clothes, food, or other articles, personal meetings, or group interaction, travel, patronizing restaurants, art galleries, natural parks, lakes and other tourist attractions, zoos, sports arenas, nor, pragmatically, any felt need to expend unnecessary money, effort, and energy to engage in any such commonplace practices.
However, bizarre as it may seem, on various occasions, usually occurring after nightfall, Sal, inwardly comprehended the existential underlying basis for his recurring primal need to observe his mandatory ritual of Saturday, tuna melt lunch, at the nearby and, notably relevant, publically attended, diner.
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