Time To Breathe

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."
-Albert Einstein

My Spouse has bought a radio; it was delivered to our hands last week. Too many modern gadgets possess a radio ability of some sort, but we personally wanted the item to function only as a radio.
The event of purchasing was much talked about and dithered over as happens to be our tendency. Some credit card points needed to be used up urgently- the gathering of them stretches back years- and a decision was finally made. A radio could be used by both of us and would be a throwback to less technologically-advanced times, a much-needed interval.
My Spouse returned from work on Tuesday and tore open the package like a happy child, setting up the first opportunity we had in a long time to partake of the airwaves.
The first show that we stumbled upon featured a local man reading selected articles of the day from the nation's various newspapers.
The man was orating very nicely until a sudden silence descended.
Concerned, I said, "what happened?" while wondering how we might get a refund. I am a territorial, skeptical pessimist at certain times; too often our purchases fail to operate and we must begin the battle to claim our money back. I am at times impatient and can assess a situation and assume the worst in less seconds than it takes to draw a breath.
That, in fact, was just what the fellow was doing. He was only pausing for breath, as humans do, and turning the pages of a newspaper.
As I stated, in my defence, it has been an awfully long time since I was witness to the intimate, here and now, real-life moments that a radio can present.
Contemplative and charming were the next few hours as we reacquainted ourselves with the true blessing of a radio.
There was a real person murmuring, unravelling the day and conversing with unseen listeners. At times I misheard a word and reached out my hand, in a fit of desire for instant gratification, to rewind the show back a moment or two in order to hear a repeat.
There is a particularly novel feeling in realising that the world of the radio, for the most part, has not been tainted by time and progress.
The beauty is that it presents a gentle, slow world where there is time to step back from the frenetic pace of life and connect with those willing to lend a patient ear for a few hours. We used our credit cards points too- at long last.