The Smart Phone Buddy

Issue #07 Keith’s SciFi Musings Sunday, July 14, 2024

The loneliness was killing me.

Every day – well, Monday through Friday at least – when I would take the train to work, all I could do was just sit there and stare out the window, watching the scenery slide by, as I listened to you chattering, laughing, whispering. Sometimes even yelling, screaming, and crying.

Didn’t you even see me sitting there? Didn’t you even care? I was the only one.

But so what, right? Because you just kept talking. And talking. And talking. And…

And I had to wonder, who talks this much? What kind of person can never shut up? And what kind of person is it on the other end of the line that indulges that endless stream of chatter? Day, after day, after…

Once upon a time, silence was golden. Now it’s simply been left for dead at the side of the road. Because you are always talking, even when you have nothing to say.

What about folks like me? What about we barely handful of a few who don’t have anyone at the other end of all those words, waiting to receive, to respond, to let us know we were heard?

But you did hear. You did! Somehow you knew, and you cared, and now, thanks to you, I have my very own Smart Phone Buddy. For those of us who want to join the conversation, even when there isn’t one to join. Now I, too, have a companion phone that is programmed to respond – and respond appropriately! – to anything and everything I say. For example, if I’m sad? The voice on the other end (sounds like a real human!) empathizes with my sadness – unless programmed to respond otherwise. Like maybe saying, “Stop being such a little bitch and buckle up!” or something like that.

But most importantly? My Smart Phone Buddy will never. Ever. Let me hang up.

I didn’t mean to murder the silence. It was only done in self-defense.