Long Ago and Far Away

They say the internet has made the world a smaller place and, in many ways, that’s true. But, in many ways, we just haven’t caught up. Living here, for example, is quite deceptive. We have all the benefits and disbenefits of civilisation and you certainly don’t feel as though you’re out on a limb when you go about your everyday business. And, of course, we also have the internet which brings a cornucopia of goods and services from all over the world to our doorstep. Only slowly.

Seeing all that stuff on your screen that you can order at the touch of a button is deceptive. Order something from Amazon and, unless you pay shipping fees sufficient to deliver the contents of a small home, your order will take weeks to arrive. Try something nearer home, in a fit of Antipodean loyalty, thinking it must arrive more quickly, and you’re likely to be disappointed.

I ordered couple of books from Sydney more than two weeks ago. I’ve just received an email to say they’re finally on their way but it’ll take them a few days at least to struggle up the coast from the capital. I decided to try Smoke CDs for some music. It’s a perky New Zealand outfit with a fine range of cds but, again after far more time than I’m used to waiting, my order still hasn’t even left the Land of the Long White Cloud.

I think one reason may be that there’s not many of us down here. So there’s less money to be made, less money to pay people to do the work and less people to find to do the work. For instance, yesterday a Qantas flight from Sydney to Wellington had to be diverted when Wellington airport was closed because “an air controller was sick.” Now you can’t imagine Heathrow running short of an air controller or two and having to shut but I guess there’s not that many of them in Wellington. Possibly just two, taking it in turns.

So slowly it dawns on you that, despite appearances, you really are on the edge of things and that perhaps getting what you want, exactly when you want it, isn’t that important after all.