A taxi passed while I was waiting to cross the street this morning. It had a cab-top billboard on it that read "Take me to ESB." It wasn't until I looked at the picture on the billboard that I realized that "ESB" meant Empire State Building. It appears they are trying to make a 78-year-old building seem hip.
I won't go into a rant about kids these days and how they're destroying communication with their texting-speak, or anything, but it makes me wonder, what are we losing? Language is such a powerful thing. Words contain images, thoughts, ideas. Acronyms, hip as they may be, are just a series of letters, which take extra brain power to decode, leaving less time to think about the meaning of the words for which they stand. (At least for middle-aged brains like mine.) Like, what does it mean that New York is the Empire State? Is empire-building bad or good? And is a cheap clothing store like Strawberries made classier by being in a building with so much history (not to mention architectural interest)? Will my flimsy tank top last longer?
Are we really moving so fast as a society that we can no longer take the time to say Empire State Building, even while on vacation? Even when that vacation's itinerary includes a trip to said building? Can we take the time, then, to gaze from its heights in wonder? Or do we just snap a bunch of photos and slap them up on FB (Facebook) under "Views from the ESB" and move on to EI (Ellis Island)? Mark it all TBSTL (to be sorted through later)?
What ever happened to experiencing your experience while you're experiencing it? (And talking about it in full, thoughtful, even languid sentences?)
Phew. All that from a taxi-topper.
Message of the day: slow down, people! And, you know, think about stuff.
