Jumping Off The Bridge

Remember when you were a kid growing up , one of the old cliche parental comebacks was, "if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you too?"

It was one of those lame, cookie cutter arguments parents would use when they were lazy and didn't feel like thinking of anything better. It completely dismissed all sense of situational nuance. And its an argument so outdated now, most kids would just laugh at it.

But what if everybody really did jump off a bridge? What if everyone around you, all the friends and loves in your life, your family and peers, all decided one by one to jump off a metaphorical bridge, into a world of toxic addiction to smiles on screens?

And jump they did. One by one, the people I was close to in life, the ones I'd painstakingly built a rapport with over years, just faded away into the machine. A machine we all know to be unhealthy to the human soul, yet we just can't seem to resist it's snakelike charms of simplicity. Can't stop to smell the roses between the next damn scroll.

So I lost them, lost them all to the hip new trends in intellectual de-evolution, the perpetual swipe and share. Friendship didn't involve spending time in each other's presence anymore. It was about logging on and trading videos of highly addictive stupidity, causing inevitable long term brain rot in one's moral compass.

In short, they all jumped off the bridge, deep into the waters of media corrosion. A cesspit I once vowed never to swim in. Why should I jump into a river of intellectual acid? Just because everyone else did? They were the stupid ones, not me. They knew what would happen, we all knew what would happen. In the end, they were blissfully ignorant, treating tech as a toy rather than a tool. A potentially dangerous tool if misused. And they just didn't care. So why should I?

Why do I find myself standing on the edge of that bridge?

Like being in a world of digital zombies. They were human once, and still think they are. But inside, they're all slaves to the machine, enthralled by distraction and convenience in a click.  All by their own choice. Why would I want to do that?

Probably because the knowledge of being right doesn't change the silence around you. Your mind is your only companion within the social void. Being right doesn't really matter if there's no one else around to challenge it.

And you can see them, those ghosts of the past. You see their faces in the water below. You see them laugh and cry, flashes of life's adventures gone by. All their lows and highs.

They look back at you and smile, with eyes gleaming of warm invite. They've called to you before, whispering your name like the sirens of greek lore.

"Come join us. It's fun, you'll see. Come swim in our river of abandon and ease. Just one good leap."

And I've wanted to. No matter how much reason tells me otherwise, some raw instinctual part of me wants to take a plunge headfirst into that river. No hesitation, no thought of what might happen afterward.

I can feel myself arch forward, getting ready to jump. Take a deep breath......then nothing.

Cause then I think back to all the misunderstandings, all the times I accidentally caused confusion and outrage. And most of the time, I never knew why. It's like being convicted of a crime you don't understand. You feel like you did something wrong because of the way your peers talk and behave toward you. But they never tell you what you did wrong, leaving you with nothing but unanswered questions about your invisible crimes.

Then you remember that one more mistake in public could be the death of you. You know what past experience says. Really then, how long before you commit another unspoken wrong? How long before you offend the internet at large? The same internet populated by people that react with instinct more than reason?

I'm sorry everyone. I miss you all, but I can't jump off the bridge today.

I'd rather die on land with a solemn sigh than tread the water of silent cries.