‘Separate Worlds’ by Chip Houser

The first time the earth tolls, we’re all in our separate worlds doing what we do. We hear it, even through our noise-cancelling headphones, a single, skull-jarring clang like a big old church bell. Only it’s everywhere, resonating through us, like our bones are tuning forks, tickling our insides. The ground vibrates, too. Not like an earthquake or anything. Just enough to make the leaves drawn in our latte foam quiver. It lasts maybe ten seconds, but it shakes our feeds all afternoon. Everyone posts what they were doing. Our top influencers share their epiphanies. Profound observations happen. Heartfelt resolutions are made. Some risk metaphor. It’s all very unsettling and profound, until it’s not. Eventually, after that initial mind-bomb, something else blows up, and we revert to whatever we were doing before the earth tolled. It was strange, yes, but ours are busy worlds.

Our parents’ reaction to the toll? Watching their beloved ‘news’ anchors ask scientists all the smart questions. The scientists explain elastic deformation and electromagnetic fields and solar flares. The anchors nod sagely. Next up — after commercials — it’s the politicians, promising investigations before pivoting to their usual talking points. Blaming the other side for the debt ceiling, guns, poverty, abortion. It’s always the other side, always the same arguments. We get it, there’s comfort in conviction, safety in entrenched positions. Except there are real stakes here, people. Like our future. Call us Gen X, but it’s almost like they’re wilfully distracting themselves from reality. Avoiding real issues like racism, inequity, the climate crisis. Yes, they’re all real. Sleep on.