Author: JHOREN PATRICK ROSALES

Today, we live in a society where we use technology as a tool to make certain things in our lives easier. But what if these things are out of control? Most of us today are under the possession of a smartphone. We use it as a way to communicate, to entertain us, and to save certain memories like photographs and videos. A very useful tool to have, but has its own iceberg theory. We tend to spend so much time on our smartphones unconsciously until we check the time. The addiction from technology is taking over us, making us unaware of the surroundings that lead us to dangerous situations that affect us in physical and mental manners. The author Ray Bradbury has shown us in the stories “The Pedestrian” and “The Murderer” how technology impacts human behaviors and how it can create a society-wide addiction. 

In the story “The Pedestrian”, every single person is under the possession of a TV. People are not allowed to walk after dawn and everyone is watching TV once this period of time has broken into the day showing it as an example of a society-wide addiction to television. While everyone is watching TV, the protagonist of the story allows himself to go out for a walk which is against the law in the story’s society. Realistically, taking a walk is a human right and everyone should have the right to do that freely at any time of a regular day. Due to the daily routine regulations in this story where everybody is supposed to watch television after dawn, it is not allowed and considered a crime when these rules are being trespassed. The following passage will show an example of the “extraordinary” act of taking a night walk,

 “What are you doing out?” “Walking,” said Leonard Mead. “Walking!” “Just walking,” he said simply, but his face felt cold. “Walking, just walking, walking?” “Yes, sir.” “Walking where? For what?” “Walking for air. Walking to see.”

This shows us how human behaviors have changed due to a society-wide addiction which led to restrictions that made certain things like, in this case, taking a walk, seem unconventional. Another piece of passage of the text that shows this is, 

“Where are you taking me?” The car hesitated, or rather gave a faint whirring click, as if information, somewhere, was dropping card by punch-slotted card under electric eyes. “To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies.”

  The police are taking the protagonist under custody and bringing him to a psychiatric center that researches regressive tendencies because of the action of taking a walk after dawn. This shows that technology is impacting society by changing human behaviors. Things that used to be normal have changed and seem to be irregular and out of social standards. In conclusion, the regulations of the society in “The Pedestrian”, made it unlawful for civilians to take a step out of their property after sunset, which will later on be considered as unconventional. 

The story “The Murderer” by Ray Bradbury has shown us an example of a society-wide addiction to radio transmission that has irritated a person’s life. Every person in this story communicates through radio wristbands and entertains themselves with music and podcasts coming from radio transmissions. Due to all the noise coming from all unnecessary conversations and radios, the main character in the story gets irritated by it causing him to lose control over himself and start to destroy other people’s radios. He ended up being taken into a mental health hospital where a psychiatrist is trying to understand his behaviors and feelings. One piece of evidence from the story that supports this is, “It’s easy to say the wrong thing on telephones;

“The telephone changes your meaning to you. First thing you know, you’ve made an enemy. Then, of course, the telephone’s such a convenient thing; it just sits there and demands you call someone who doesn’t want to be called. Friends were always calling, calling, calling me. Hell, I didn’t have any time of my own.”

This shows how irritating technology can be to certain people if the society-wide addiction has not reached individuals that have good self-control over themselves. Technology is taking over certain interactions and activities, making society blind to reality. The author uses setting to describe the current situation and place in the story. For example, we can see this at the beginning of the story when the psychiatrist walks into the building observing each room and corner of the current environment he’s in: 

“Music moved with him in the white halls. He passed an office door: “The Merry Widow Waltz.” Another door: Afternoon of a Faun. A Third: “Kiss Me Again.” He turned into a cross-corridor: “The Sword Dance” buried him in cymbals, drums, pots, pans, knives, forks, thunder, and tin lightning. All washed away as he hurried through an anteroom where a secretary sat nicely stunned by Beethoven’s Fifth. He moved himself before her eyes like a hand; she didn’t see him.”

In conclusion, in the story “The Murderer”, we see how a society wide addiction has impacted a person’s life by irritating them with unnecessary noise throughout their daily life. It shows how technology impacts human behaviors and how it can create a society-wide addiction.

 Something that about 80% of the world’s population possesses in this modern society are smartphones. While smartphones are pretty useful and fun, in many situations they lead to addiction and distraction to a certain situation that can lead to danger. It shows an example of how dangerous it is to be distracted from a certain technology while driving or crossing the road. If smartphones can be serious distractions in the workplace, they’re far worse when used while driving or crossing the road. Distracted driving is one of the main causes of road accidents, which, in turn, are among the world’s leading causes of death. The minutes spent answering calls and text messages are more than enough to cause an accident. It only takes a few seconds to figure in a collision at high speeds. 

 In his works “The Pedestrian” and “The Murderer,” author Ray Bradbury demonstrates how technology affects human behavior and how technology can change a society-wide addiction. The stories by Ray Bradbury have shown us his predictions of our future which are surprisingly very accurate and relatable.  In the murderer, Bradbury has shown us how someone has mentally changed because of being annoyed by the noise of a technology that was almost available everywhere since it was possessed by the majority of society. And in The Pedestrian, he showed us how addictive technology can be and how this addiction can spread through society and can change a whole system creating a more anti-social living among people since everyone is focused on the television. I think this topic has not been discussed well, not just in the educational system but throughout the world and among people. I have a feeling that in the 21st century, we rely so much on technology in an unconscious way. We are aware of the usage but not aware of the amount. Technology has its good values that can make life easier but also its bad values which could make things in life or in society harder. Ray Bradbury’s story, “The Pedestrian” and “The Murderer”, has shown us how technology can change human behaviors in social life and how technology can generate a society-wide addiction.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. “The Pedestrian.” Riverside Local Schools, 2002, https://www.riversidelocalschools.com/Downloads/pedestrian%20short%20story.pdf. “CDC Data Summary & Trends.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Apr. 2023, www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/yrbs_data_summary_and_trends.htm.

I would wait minutes, maybe even hours, or days, and if I ever had to, months or years for you to finally just answer my texts. Yes, maybe I was a little crazy, maybe I overdid things or even came up with the craziest scenarios in my head. I don’t know what else I should have done when you neglected my attention to you. I got excited when my phone vibrated but then disappointed when i saw it wasn’t you that rang me. I wanted to text you more, talk with you more, and catch up on  our lives because that’s what best friends do. I mean we always had days where we just sat down and texted each other for hours chatting about the silliest things. I would be smiling and laughing at my phone while everyone else would just stare at me. But now, what happened? I texted you daily but our conversations became foggy. Giving me cold and dry responses that I couldn’t steer through. And I did ask you if something was wrong. But I would get the same excuse over and over again. “I’m just tired, don’t worry about me.” But I never stopped worrying. And I kept texting even on days or weeks when I wouldn’t get a reply. Along with the fog, the distance started on growing as you slowly sped away from me.. I never gave up on closing the gap between us, because I valued this friendship more than anything else. Because I always told myself that I’ll be waiting for you. 

The first thing to do in the morning is check my phone. First thing to do after breakfast, check my phone again. The first thing to do after getting off the train, check my phone  another time, and so on. Yes, I wouldn’t let go of a single second of my phone just so I could immediately text you when you finally responded. I wrote you an entire silly story thinking that it may make you happy or we can finally talk about something. I understand that it’s hard to keep in touch from two different places in the world and I guess I may have expected too much because all I really got was an “Okay that’s funny”, and I responded to that by saying “I know right!” followed by “How are you btw?” and so I waited another 2 days just to receive “I’m ok, you?” It felt like a pigeon was delivering a letter to me. What happened to all the passionate, funny, and exciting conversations we had? It’s like a big thunderstorm hovered over me and made everything so gray, cold, and depressing. It hurts, you hurt me for the first time. Something I would have never expected. So, I left you to read, because I was getting tired. Tired of being treated like a nobody. Like I never contributed anything to you, like my efforts never mattered. You forgot who I was. I layed down on my bed for every night that has passed after we stopped talking and asked myself questions while staring at the ceiling. What did I do to get treated this way? Am I to blame that you’re like that? Maybe I could have handled this situation better? Maybe we both could have.

I saw your Instagram story with your friends and you looked very happy in it. I can’t deny it made me smile. What made me smile was how you smiled, because that’s what I imagined when you texted me, the face behind the screen. So I kept staring at it, forgetting where I was, and what was around me, it was just you on my screen and me. And when I snapped out of it I realized that I missed my train stop by about five other stations. I turned off my phone because of how distracted I was. While waiting for the train, there was so much that I needed to process. Here I am missing you, missing what we had and what suddenly disappeared. I smiled and cried at the same time. Each day that passed I would scroll through our old conversations remembering what we talked about. I would take hours to read everything, from where it started to all the way down when it ended. I’d spend hours just looking at my phone, looking at content on TikTok and Instagram I could relate to, listening to the most depressing music that would remind me how much pain I was in and how much I emotionally suffered. Here I turn into an isolated individual losing interest in everything and only focusing on getting distracted through social media to push away all the pain. Being on the phone would be the first and last thing I would do throughout the day. There was no escape. I was so locked into it, it slowly took over me. Things got out of control so quickly and all I had to cope with was my phone and headphones. I wanted to stay in my own little world and away from people because I was too afraid to get hurt again, too afraid to speak up or even make eye contact. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, at least not with anyone other than you. 

The attachment to my phone became greater than I ever expected like it became part of my own body. My only happiness was trapped in there and it was the only thing that kept me close to you. But I couldn’t live like that forever. It was time for me to change my lifestyle all over again and try to give myself a second chance in life by working on myself. That one day where my phone ran out of charge, I had to rely on something else to gratify myself. So, I went on and saw joy in people, joy in the environment and what surrounds me. I felt a breeze blowing through my hair, and gazing at the clouds while I heard birds sing and fly like planes sorrowing the sky. I can make myself happy with something else other than just relying on technology to resolve my problems. I was taught pain but learned how to heal. I learned to forgive and slowly to forget. I learned how to not rely and cope with just technology. I learned how to be patient. It has been a long journey but it came to an end, an end that I’ve been waiting for minutes, hours, days and months.

Works Cited

Body Paragraph 2: In this paragraph, I draw inspiration from Ray Bradbury’s “The Murderer” where he stated “The telephone changes your meaning to you. First thing you know, you’ve made an enemy. Then, of course, the telephone’s such a convenient thing; it just sits there and demands you call someone who doesn’t want to be called. Friends were always calling, calling, calling me. Hell, I didn’t have any time of my own.” (Bradbury).

In-text citation: Unknown, “The Strangers Project“

“I always told myself that I’ll be waiting for you” (Unknown)

1. Writing Process:

During the process of this particular essay, I chose a teachable moment that is very relevant to me and something I’d like to get off my shoulders. Due to a writer’s block to this project, it was pretty difficult for me to get inspired and have an organized time schedule during my working process of this project. There were times where I would sit for at least an hour in front of my laptop and write nothing to one sentence. I tried different methods to like looking at photographs, listening to music or reflecting upon the situation that I wanted to write about. The way I incorporate the feedback of my peers was that I’d revised any repetition mentioned upon their comments. I had a lot of inspirational comments that helped me to get more motivated with my workflow and get a little more inspired and therefore make improvements to this piece. There was a lot that had to be covered within the story and it was pretty difficult for me to express what I see and feel in my mind and heart which caused me to have a heavy writer’s block like mentioned earlier.

2. Areas of Improvements
   1. The section (Hello, Best Friend…) where I write about my best friend in my opinion could use some improvements. I initially wanted to make this particular paragraph short and straight forward but there was just too much to cover, I feel like ot could be shorter and in a way where you can still express these details, I just didn’t know how to do it at that time.
   2. “ I would always think to myself that she was just not in the mood or was just tired from school but when I would see her with her classmates or other people, she looked so cheerful, very happy and more clingy and close than she was with me.” I think this sentence is pretty long, there could be definitely a way on how to make it shorter and straight forward.
   3. In my first paragraph (Attachment) I end the sentence with “I am very aware that people can forget but never was I ever ready to admit and accept it.” I feel like there could have been a better closing sentence and transition to the following paragraph.
   4. The transition between the second to last and the last paragraph is kind of very blunt and not really smooth. 
   5. The overall essay feels more like a conversation between the text and the reader but I would have wanted to have it seem like a story rather than a conversation.

Grading Rubric

Communication of value – For this part I would rate my work a 3. I think that my work has shown a broad understanding of my teachable moment and the situation I was in.

Narrative Coherence and Development – For this section I would also rate my work a 3.  I think my work explores my ideas within my narrative shape and shows a lot of details what I wanted to talk about to show a great and broad structure of my teachable moment.

Narrative Conventions – For this section I would rate my work a 4. I think that my work shows a broad and wide range creativity within the scenes where I also dramatize certain situations within the narrative.

Introduction (teaching the reader how to Navigate the narratives) – I would give myself a 2 in this section. I really focused on showing how I overcame and learned from my attachments within the narrative but I lack in showing what it actually taught me.Use of Language, Control of Syntax, and Mechanics – Lastly, I will give myself a 3 in this section. I think that the use of language was pretty clear with some minor grammar mistakes or sentence structures that in some parts may be repetitive.

Abstract

In this essay, I will be talking about a teachable moment that I had in life. A moment that  showed me how to let go of people and fight the burden and pain while letting go of someone that I was once attached to. This essay will show a broad narrative to my situation and experience and what actions I took to reach this teachable moment.

Attachment

A teachable moment in life. A moment where realization comes into place, where your mind and heart find peace within the war, where your eyes open from being blind within all the deep thoughts that gathered in your mind. For me, it was when I learned how to let go of people that led me to have a teachable moment in life. When I learned how to let go of what I was once attached to, something I never wanted to let go of so easily. And the same questions kept repeating in my head: Who are those people to me? What did I do to them to treat me like this? Am I the problem? And so many more questions that led me to daydream, overthink and blank out in the middle of something. Many times, I blame myself I have to go through this situation. People mean a lot to me, but do they feel the same? I see them laugh and be happy with me, but way happier when they are with others. I am very aware that people can forget but never was I ever ready to admit and accept it.

The actions within the attachments

I never really make friends by myself, but when I do, I make sure that I give them all the love that I have to offer. Making people happy and feeling loved was always the intention behind my efforts. But I honestly never felt like anyone would give me the same energy back that I would let out. For a time being I would believe it, but I end up getting disappointed by the expectations I have among people that I’m attached to. Since childhood, it has never been easy for me to start something with people due to the fact that I was bullied and hated by everyone around me. I may have had one or two friends, but back then at the age of 9, I would already feel whether something would last long or not. And my feelings were always pretty accurate and right. It wasn’t too bad, I mean I had some great memories. Memories of temporary happiness that I missed and wished to live again. 

Hello, best friend…

Here it goes, my last year in high school mainly being alone without anyone around me and I honestly enjoyed it. The cycle of temporary friendships went on and on up until the point where I hated making new friends or socializing with people. It was after the pandemic that I was sick of approaching anyone or even saying anything. Returning to in-person classes, it felt like people just remembered that I existed. But I wasn’t too upset about it, I mean, it was all based on what I expected. I felt really independent and I didn’t really have to worry about anyone other than me. However, in life sometimes, some promises you make to yourself won’t always last. I may have told myself that I won’t make any new friends or attachments, but not long after the second and last semester of my senior year started, I met my so-called best friend. She just got out of a toxic relationship, she first held back and didn’t want to talk to me when she still was with her ex together in a long-distance relationship. But once she got out of it, she opened up to me and told me everything about it. She was 17 years old at that time, also from the Philippines like me, we had a lot in common like speaking the same native language, similar music tastes, and favorite foods, but what made us really close was the fact that we both understood each other’s life problems and struggles very well since they are pretty similar and relatable to us. We would sit on a park bench and take for hours about how horrible this life can be. At the same time, however, we would fight over the smallest things like late chat replies and not updating each other during the day. But at the end of the day, we both would agree that we were meant to meet each other in life. 

Changes

I would see my best friend at least once a week. It became a regular thing for us to go out, eat something at K-town and shop afterward, stay at her home, and watch movies or talk about life while listening to our shared playlist. It was a great time and I was happy. However, things started to change between us. She became frequently colder to me and very bipolar, I would always think to myself that she was just not in the mood or is just tired from school but when I would see her with her classmates or other people, she looked so cheerful, very happy and more clingy and close than she was with me. We are very honest with each other, so I didn’t hesitate to open up to her about how I felt. She told me not to worry about it and that she was just showing me the real side of her and hiding from other people. I didn’t have any other option other than just going with the flow and believing it. The days started to become very different each time we would meet. One day everything was normal and another day she wouldn’t even wanna look at me and stayed silent. It was different from what we had and I was worried that she might get tired of me but in the end, I didn’t want to overthink it each time we’d see each other.

Jealousy

I couldn’t help myself to hide this one thought I have about our friendship, but I know once she gets into a relationship, everything will surely end and she will distance herself from me. Although I felt like it was wrong, my feelings couldn’t help themselves other than feeling jealous of other people talking to her. She would less and less give me her attention. I didn’t have to tell her how exactly I felt because I know that she knows how I currently feel. She knows me so well, she can read me picture-clear like an open book. I kept denying it whenever she confronts me about it. I didn’t want to show her the way I was feeling because of how awkward it might get but that didn’t help and instead of talking about it, it became an argument that led us to not text or talk to each other for a while. 

Farwell…

And here we are at the end of what was predicted. It was heavy for me to carry this burden, to feel the same pain I felt before I was having this “best friendship”. I would a couple of days later find out that she is in a relationship and it hurts to be the last one to know about it. That’s the end right here, the end that I hoped I would never encounter within our friendship. We became what they call strangers with memories, a pair of people who once knew each other and suddenly pretend as if they’d never met. But she seemed to be happier without me. She laughs and smiles and forgets all her problems. Maybe the right happiness that she was looking for, wasn’t available in me but in other people. It felt like I was used to helping her out of her healing stage so she could put me in mine, but that’s fine with me if that was the reason why we were supposed to meet in life. As long as she’s happy, I will be happy as well because I have no other choice other than continue with my life just like she’s currently doing. Farwell…

Realization

Straight to the point, people come and go for various reasons. As much as someone wants to hope for “forever”, there is no such thing that proves that forever exists within anything. I may have my doors closed right now for new people in my life but as I claimed earlier, I won’t be able to keep my door shut “forever”. People change so that you can learn to let go of them. We let people into our lives for the pleasure of feeling alive together, to relate to each other’s feelings and emotions. With that being said, the time has come when I realized that everyone that been in your life has been there for a reason, to teach you, to love you, or to experience life with you, but in the end, you are the only one that has full control over your life, you get to choose where your heading and end up in. And people may follow you in between all the paths you take in life, but some may head to another path apart from you. That’s life.