Rachel Cotton
I turn on the TV in my room, automatically launching Netflix and putting on Friends. I’ve seen the show so many times its like white noise to me. My dog joins me in my bed and I open my phone and go on TikTok, an app I swore to myself I would never download but somehow over the summer ended up on my phone. I scroll through the videos, seeing the same video concepts and sounds being used over and over again, and I wonder if anyone has anything original to say anymore. Every now and again I find a video that literally makes me laugh out loud, or I find cute videos of dogs being silly. But for the most part it is filled with teenagers in their room lip-syncing or trying too hard to be funny. I promise myself one more video and then I’ll put the phone away, but it turns to two more, or five more until I notice Netflix is asking me if I am still watching. I say yes and move my attention to Instagram. I scroll through, seeing pictures of my old high school classmates starting classes, some studying abroad, some moving across the country. I see social media influencers posting beautiful pictures of them at the beach or in some foreign city. The comments are filled with people wishing they could travel there, that they could look as beautiful as they do and things like that. My dog lets out a loud sigh, and I realize he’s bored out of his mind, so I decide to take him out for a while.
I roll the windows of my car down so my dog can stick his head out the window as I drive to the dog park. By the time we get to the park his white hair is blown back and he looks a little crazy. I let him run free in the enclosed grass area. I’m greeted by many different breeds of dog as I make my way to the park bench, this is my heaven. I sit and try to find my dog, who seemed to have gained the interest of two large German Shepherds who tower over my little Yorkie-Poo. They intensely sniff each other before breaking out into a run, my little guy chasing the big guys. They all seem to get along well, not caring how different they are, just excited they have someone to play with. It makes me think about what goes on in a dog’s head when they see another dog. Most of the time I notice that they perk up and want to go say hi to each other. They get all excited over a dog they’ve never met before. Why aren’t humans like this? Could it just be that we see humans so much on a regular basis or just that we really do not care about other humans that much that we don’t get excited to see one unless it’s one we care about. Some people are nice enough to say hi to strangers as they walk by as a way of being polite.But mostly we all just walk past one another, not paying an ounce of attention. The owners of all the dogs at the park are on their phone or reading a book, all in their own little bubble while their fur friends are all interacting with one another, being the happiest they could be.
As I reflect on the hour spent in bed and the hour spent at the dog park I become aware of how people interact with one another these days. Most of the interaction comes from being online or on social media. Their kindness and even spitefulness is magnified online. No one I’ve come across has spoken to me the way they speak to people on the Internet through their comments, weather they be nice or rude. I notice people are more excited to see their favorite celebrity post a picture of their hand than to see/meet someone new at a coffee shop. In reality most people won’t engage in person to person conversations, and they most certainly say exactly what is on their mind. No one will walk up to you and say “OMG I loveeee your hair, I would kill for hair like that!” but will comment it on your Instagram post without a second thought. I really admire how friendly dogs are with one another, not caring what they look like or what breed they are and being excited to meet a new friend. If people were like this (wanting to meet people in person and actually get to know them), I have a feeling the world would be a much nicer place.