When We Were Young

On a blessed afternoon some years back, I was enjoying a beautiful nap. Out of the blues my phone rang out loud to halt my sleep. Grudgingly, I picked the phone with sleepy eyes but by the time I was done, those eyes were wide open. I had just gotten a late notification for a walk-in interview that would end in 30 minutes.

In some record time, I was in and out of the bathroom, got some clothes on, picked my credentials bag, and I was off. With about two minutes to the end of the given time, I ran into the interview hall like a possessed being. Thankfully, the interviewer had mercy on my tired limbs and allowed me to partake in the interview. On my way back, a live program discussing the positive and negative effects of civilization was on the local radio station. I was comfortably sitting in a taxi while I enjoyed the back and forth discussion on this incredible topic.

Civilization changed everything, both in the good and bad way. While some people argued civilization ruined our culture and threatened world peace, others listed the raft of amazing features we now have that weren't present back then. Right there and then, I was grateful to civilization because I wouldn't make that interview if there wasn't a vehicle to convey me. If I was to trek, I would get to the interview hall in about two hours.

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The most wonderful gift civilization gave is the ease of communication. I learnt people depended on pigeons to deliver messages in the olden days. That's definitely a flawed method. When I was growing up people relied on the post office to send messages and Nitel to make calls. Message delivery via post office may last from a day to over one month depending on distance, logistics and other unforeseen circumstances. As for Nitel calls, the person you're calling has to be at the phone booth else you're definitely not speaking to each other. Those were incredibly hard times. But then, some people believed those were the days when life was simple.

When we were young, civilization wasn't this advanced. There were industries, but not this much. Few people were talking about ozone layer depletion; earthquakes, earth tremors and landslides weren't this commonplace. The world is always at war, but the existence of humanity wasn't this threatened; at least, no one was threatening us all with Satan II or whatever the hell that nuclear bomb is called. Civilization breeds growth, but it also breeds monsters of various shapes, sizes and dimensions.

As an environmentalist, the telling contribution of civilization and industrialization to the gradual degradation of the planet earth is my major regret. For every new innovation implemented, the planet suffers the consequence. Industries created finished products, but their wastes pose a varying degree of danger elsewhere. The fact that some people are already talking about relocating to Mars shows how depleted the earth is.

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In all, I'm grateful to have lived at a time like this. I'm pretty sure those that lived in the 1700s and 1800s would've preferred to live in an era with better technological advancement. However, I fear for the world; I fear for planet Earth.