Communication

Jack Deatherage

(6/2025) Communication has never been easier, or more difficult.

Once upon a time, I could look up someone's telephone number in a phone book and get in touch with them. That was in the days before answering machines and caller ID which allowed people to only respond to those callers they felt like talking to. With the advent of the cell phone, phone books vanished- with the exception of business phone books. Business phone books eventually disappeared with the invention of the "smart phone" which gave users access to the Internet where most all businesses have a presence.

While our private phone numbers are no longer listed in books, they are readily available to telemarketers, advertisers and scammers, but not to people who may have lost touch with us over the years and are trying to reconnect. I think it's hilarious that people who once chastised me for giving their cell phone numbers to acquaintances who'd lost touch with them are now constantly bombarded by telemarketers, advertisers and scammers.

Email was and is my favorite way of communicating. Especially now when my memory is growing less reliable. However, other than a homesteader in Oklahoma, the editor of this paper, a few librarians, the mayor, a commissioner or two and a few town staffers, the bulk of the emails I receive daily are advertisements and scammers- all of which I delete without opening.

There's a small sign at the Cedar Avenue Community Garden with my phone number and email address displayed.

"Awful bold of you to assume people can read." A newcomer to the community garden said with a smile after I pointed to the sign when asked how I could be contacted.

I've not received a call or email concerning the garden from anyone other than town staff, commissioners and librarians. Maybe the newcomer is correct, though I suspect "people don't read" is more likely. I certainly don't read every sign I happen upon.

According to numerous Internet websites- between 4,000 and 10,000 advertisements are placed before us daily. I long ago trained myself to ignore ads so I'm at the high end of another Internet "fact" -the average person makes a purchase after seeing an ad at least 7 to 13 times. That's assuming people actually pay attention to an ad, which I rarely do unless I'm already interested in whatever the ad promotes.

Technology allows me to chat with bakers- professionals and dabblers -in Barcelona Spain and Singapore at no cost to us, yet I can't phone a cousin across town because their "free" government phone only allows specific callers to get through. I talk to friends in Belgium and Bulgaria for free, but have to pay to find the phone number of old acquaintances still living in town?

I know where people live, but don't know their phone numbers or email addresses which they seldom check now that they have access to: Snapchat, Instagram, Threads, X, Facebook, Twitch, WeChat, Bluesky, FaceTime, TikTock, Discord and Telegram to name a few. How many social media platforms does one have to join in order to communicate now?

Communicating at the personal level, while sometimes frustrating, pales in comparison when I talk to the mayor, town staff and commissioners about their efforts to keep the citizenry informed.

"We're at a loss." One staffer groaned. "We place notices everywhere we can- both local newspapers, shop windows, community and town bulletin boards, the monthly town newsletter, in the quarterly water bills, on the town's official website, on Facebook, emailings and on the town's app. We still get complaints that people are unaware of town functions, public meetings, or changes in event locations, town ordinances and service fee increases."

That the village idiot is asked for suggestions on how the town can keep the citizens informed is a clue as to how frustrated our local government is. All I know is the problem is not unique to the town office.

The Cedar Avenue Community Garden is a microcosm of "failure to communicate". Fourteen individuals asked for garden beds this year - 13 of them have shown up to plant something. Near as I can tell, most of them happened by the garden while going elsewhere and stopped in when those of us building the garden happened to be working in it. Rarely has anyone contacted me via Facebook group posts about the garden. As far as I know, none of the people who've inquired about the garden at the town office have ever contacted me. No one has admitted to learning about the garden via the columns I've written for this paper over the last coupla years.

At least five of the gardeners live outside of town- one of those I have no way of contacting short of showing up at their home unannounced, which is seldom a good idea. The rest of the gardeners are scattered across town. Rarely do I see these people at the garden and I suspect trying to get them all together in one place to hash out a garden design, purpose and rules would be impossible. We're a diverse group of characters- some working odd hours "down the road", more than a few of us with health issues (mental in my case), some retired, others on disability.

Because I've failed to establish any form of an organization I've found seedlings planted in areas I'd set aside for my or the DW's use. Sometimes I know who planted what where and sometimes I haven't a clue. I sigh and change my plans for the garden yet again. It helps being a child of Chaos. I don't expect things to conform to my plans, such as they were. The situation drives First Sister and the DW nuts- poor perfectionists that they be.

"How are they going to have a farmers market with your garden taking up so much of the lot?" Several visitors asked me since the new metal beds were placed on the lot.

The questioners were completely confused when I told them the market had been moved into the E. Eugene Myers Community Park and would only take place once a month on Saturdays.

"What? Where is that park? Do you mean by the pool? Why"

Now it's my turn to be confused. Brandy Malocha, Operation Specialist, tells me she's promoted the new market as "FUN, FARM AND FAMILY DAYS" via every media resource she has access to as well as placing fliers all over the town.

"Jack, if people haven't heard about the venue change I don't know what else to do."

I can sympathize. On the way back to the parking lot after we took in the new market, I chanced upon a woman working in the park's community garden. I asked how things were going and mentioned the new garden on Cedar Avenue. She was stunned to learn the beds in the Cedar Ave garden were available at no cost, this year at least.

"I thought that was a private garden."

I thought about pounding my head on the garden's gate post, but the DW was waiting in the car with frozen beef we'd bought from Roclans Farm while meandering the market.