By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Before there were computers, typewriters and paper the only way to tell stories was by speaking. Many cultures including the Native Americans handed their stories down generation after generation teaching proteges how to carry on the tradition in the event of death. We had hieroglyphics and cave paintings but speech through the generations kept stories alive that would otherwise be lost to time.
We can talk and now people who cannot, communicate through devices that let them express themselves. Technology allows them to tell their stories instead of writing it down. Isnt that amazing that we have all this stuff to help document and record what is the human race?
The first time I visited London what struck me ws how no one spoke to each other. Here in Ireland you nod or acknowledge complete strangers in the streets but not so there. Think of all the wasted opportunites of gettig to know someone or simply chatting to them on a train journey where they tell you about their day or indeed you spark up conversation on a mutual interest. The older generation still do it; talk to people even when they don’t get a response. You can see the disappointment in their faces when the conversation falls flat.
We are now a generation of faces in phones, where a simple act of kindness is twisted into something creepy and sinister. The concept of simple manners seems to be fading fast as more seem to think the virtual world is a real world with life long friends.
Tragedy and hitting rock bottom bring out your true friends and as painful as it is to suffer, it shapes you for the better making you see the souls you should surround yourself with. It’s almost as if people are afraid to talk to each other these days especially with WOKE aand fear of offending some snowflake. Fuck them. How dare they repress the simple joys of talking to a stranger and learning something new.
You never know who you are going to meet whether it be on a train, boat, in a pub or restaurant so engaging them in conversation may open you up to somehting or their mannerisms may stick in your head to one day find its way into a character.
I remember talking to someone and discovering they grew up in the same place as me at the same time but I was slightly older and moved on. How random is that I would meet someone in another city from my home. I also remember the time I was talking to someone who turned out to be the greatgrandson of actor Basil Rathbone of Sherlock Holmes fame. There is also the flipside which reminds us of what people deal with in their lives every day. You can moan about hings but when you meet a man that buys a sim to keep a phone alive that has his late wife’s voice on it is heartbreaking or the man that could not commit to a contract because he was dying of cancer. There are hopeful stories too like the man given months to live but was still going strong over two years later. That sort of thing keeps you grounded, humble and thankful but it sticks with you. Now you may not be a writer but when pain comes to your door, you remember these people and realise you can get through it and to enjoy it while it lasts.
Equally you could have a relative that tells you stories about the family history and some of the characters you may never have gotten to meet. You could be in a hospital ward with people that are former addicts who have lost limbs which they say have saved their lives to someone who emigrated decades ago to fish off the coast of Australia only to come back to Ireland where he lost some toes changing his life forever. You can only imagine what happened to them as you never get to see them again. Was that the end of their career on the waves? Did they get their new legs or are they still in a wheelchair?
My aunt used to tell us ghost stories that terrified us as children but instilled a lifelong fascination with the paranormal. It had the best effect on our imaginations when there was a power cut and you had to sit by candle light. until it was restored.
Everywhere you go you can come back with a story which you pass on to your family, your wife, your kids as these are all building blocks of our lives together forming its own story to tell after you are gone. It could be the time you opened a shower door in the gym only to find someone already in it. It could be the bald guy that uses a hairdryer to dry his pubes and inbetween his toes. Or the day you went for a drive and saw an elephant and travelled on a ferry for the first time. Not forgetting the flesh eating donkey that got pissed at you for running out of feed or being scared by a satanic goat.
In fact just by talking to your child about their day even when you don’t understand a word is precious and needs to be done rather than a social media post.
We as a species are walking history books and wells of anecdotes and tales to keep others entertained. Talking to others can keep friends and family alive in your heart as you share stories about those you have lost. But if you stick your head in a phone or computer you are losing out.
Talking to people is vital to your mental health because you get to see that you are not alone in whatever you are facing. There are others that have gone through the same pain you have and come through. A simple verbal reassurance and offer to listen can make a huge difference. We as a race share laughter and tears but life can make you feel it’s the first time it has ever hapened to someone.
When someone calls you or your child tugs at you for attention, shut that computer down and give them your full attention. It could be the most important story in your life.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 