July 17, 2016: Del Rio News-Herald * OPINION * Letter to the Editor * Domestic tranquility shattered by e-Companion
Letter
to the e-Edition Editor,
Domestic
tranquility shattered by e-Companion
The wife
sees her husband with his e-Companion and the wine glass slips out of her hand
as she stands there in shock.
The
red wine splatters all over the newly installed white carpet with Scotch guard
so that the wine rises up into droplets as the blood coursing through her bulging
veins.
She
grabs her throbbing heart and her face exudes a look of terror.
She
never in her wildest dreams thought that he would do this to her, she never imagined
he would bring his e-Companion into their home.
He
has eaten of the forbidden apple.
The
look on the love of his life makes him recoil.
His wife
excitedly exclaims: “You’re a traitor, that’s what you are!”
He sheepishly
inquires: “What did I do now?”
His
wife exasperatingly extols: “You betrayed the cause!”
He is
baffled and confused: “Exactly what cause did I betray?”
His
wife dramatically points to his e-Companion: “I caught you red handed, you’re
reading the e-Edition of the Del Rio News-Herald!”
He is
befuddled and clueless: “So?”
His wife
infuriatingly intonates: “So that means you’re a Benedict Arnold! You just
pretend to be all retro and anti-modern techno-science. You talk about how our
city is in such dire need of a good old-fashioned bookstore and record shop and
you won’t even so much as go outside into the sweltering summer sun and pick up
the newspaper off the lawn. You would much rather just sit in your air-conditioned
house, laying down in your comfy, cozy recliner with that e-Companion of yours
reading off a screen, instead of getting ink print all over your fingers and
fumbling with the long sheets of newsprint that some poor tree had to give it’s
life for you to enjoy reading the local daily news.”
He
realizes that he has committed the most shameful of offenses; he is enjoying
reading e-Books never having to step into a bookstore, he is listening to e-Music
never having to step into a record shop, he is enjoying the e-Edition of the Del
Rio News-Herald without a drop of perspiration on his forehead or black ink on
his fingers ever again.
If
his wife thinks he’s a traitor to some imaginary cause, then so be it.
It’s
his e-Companion, to have and to hold . . . . .
Marian
Casillas, Ed.D.