Exchanging emails

 

With brother Bill this morning got me to thinking.

 

When I was in Southeast Asia in the 60s, we referred to anything outside of where we were as the “World”.  We were totally isolated.  The only radio was the Armed Forces Network.  There was no television.  The cost of a long-distance phone call from that far away was prohibitive.  After months there, and then years, we could talk about when we got back to the World, but in the meantime, we didn’t really know anything about it.  The World became a magical mythical place.

 

How times have changed.  As Bill is settling down in the evening in Thailand or Cambodia, or Indonesia; wherever he happens to be at the moment, he pops off a couple emails.  A brother just starting the day back in the World answers and a chat ensues.  It could be any of us in any state.  On opposite sides of the globe, we’re still in immediate contact.  At worst, an email won’t be read for a few hours until someone wakes up.

 

I’m sure it still feels far away to Bill, who actually had to cover the miles to get there, but I don’t think it’s nearly as far away as it used to be.