Postmodern Touch, and Some Guy Getting Arrested in my Driveway Yesterday
It feels almost ridiculous to write about touch at a time like this. Shaking hands, hugging, kissing, high fives, a slap on the back, a kiss, all are forbidden. It's been months since I've touched another person besides hugging one of the family members I'm quarantined with. I don't even know how I'll possibly readjust to interacting with people normally, or when I'll get the opportunity to make that readjustment. I've been managing alright, but I need to start being with friends soon. I think if there's something good that might come out of this, it will be a reevaluation of our hierarchy of the senses. Zoom, FaceTime, and many other bits of software can do wonders recreating our so-called "higher" senses of vision and hearing across time and space; I can talk to and see my friends without any issues at all. I'm sure that we are all in agreement, however, that this type of interaction is missing something, that it feels hollow. I don'...