By: Caden Choi
Photo Credit: Caden Choi
The things we claim to miss — our mothers’ handwritten kiss, mixed tapes, burned CD playlists. We once carried the pride of the past, rendering every photograph indispensable, clutching Polaroids as sacred preservations of the present. But as time grew despondent, the digital age rose in confidence. One morning, the radio fell silent; the next, cassette tapes lost their distinct voice. One must wonder, “When was the last time a child galloped by the payphone, eager to feed their grandfather’s digits into its wires?” When did film cease to develop, darkroom expire, leaving memory a faint sliver of shadow?
Gen Z, naive to the past, squanderers of the present. They yearn for a breadth of yesterday, but fall into modern digital hypnosis. Gen Z and Alpha wait at the bus stop in solidarity. The two generations are the most deeply connected, but arguably, the loneliest. Technology looms at their fingertips, racing through the developing minds of the vulnerable. They submit to the infinite scroll, feeding Meta’s grip of modern mind-control. Nonetheless, they have a second option at hand — human connection. Stale seats inch closer, the holes among them begging to close. The image reflects the children’s choice to distance themselves from interaction. Like the latchkey kids of Gen X, the new age bathes in solitude. While previous generations experienced physical isolation, Gen Z paves its own path of loneliness, where mental separation constructs islands of withdrawal.
To accept the digitized world with open arms is to walk into a virtual trance. While the new age of social media forges avenues of connectivity, it welcomes an environment where texting the person standing across becomes instinctive. Media boosts tunnel vision, where the viewer is looped into instant gratification. As new neighbors of AI and VR tempt young consumers, we must reconsider the pen and paper of near history. Your mother’s handwritten kiss, mixed tapes, burned CD playlists. The clamor of inky newsstands. Darkroom film, easing back to life. These elements are what make the gilded age a touch less lonely.
