- Joined
- Sep 7, 2008
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Make Room! Make Room! is the title of the book by Harry Harrison which was made into my favourite movie - Soylent Green. Written in the 60s, the story is set in the future (now?) where the Keynesian theory of unlimited wants and limited means have left societies wanting.
My recent sojourns have taken me back to Asia and I've landed back in the city of my birth. Though Peesai has changed a lot, I am still familiar with her peoples, norms, and smells, but the human density sure has upped several notches. Making my way through the lunch crowd at a food-court, I managed to find a seat at a table shared with a nice elderly couple. I thanked them and proceeded to pour my drink into a glass. A nice cold Tiger may not be everyone's idea of lunch, but it's my solution to the heat and I just wanted to sit down and look-see around. The first bottle went by quite fast and on my second I just gazed into the crowd and the food stalls. There was certainly a heck lot more people looking for tables and than there were tables. Then my mind started wondering back to the subject movie and the masses in the urban jungle. There was something different though; there is no shortage of food. The people I observed weren't concerned with the lack of space as they were preoccupied with what to eat! Lots of choices! Too many! As the second Tiger started to kick in, a sudden utterance broke my gazen attention and reminded me the concerns of the locals wasn't the crowded conditions.
“Eat What!? Eat What!?” The man blurted out to his family as they vultured onto a vacant table, still uncleared of the bowls, plates, and detritus morsels of food left behind by the previous lunchers. Boy and mother quickly took their places to chope the table even before the plates were cleared. They quickly decided and papa and mama were off to get their fixes. Lunch was served and the family quickly slurped down their sodium-soaked slop without the niceties of table conversation. Chowing down was very business-like; without even the pleasantry of closing their mouths when munching, except for the maid. She was kinda sweet and petite compared to her somewhat boisterous and rough employers.
“Faster Eat! Faster Eat!” was the next thing I heard as the family headman again belched out orders to his clan as he glanced at his watch. “Coupon finish already.”
Well, Soylent Green was a great movie; we’re at that future and there isn’t shortage of wants. There’s ample. If only folk would sit back, talk to each other, and smell the roses. After all, what the heck are we working for?
Cheers!
My recent sojourns have taken me back to Asia and I've landed back in the city of my birth. Though Peesai has changed a lot, I am still familiar with her peoples, norms, and smells, but the human density sure has upped several notches. Making my way through the lunch crowd at a food-court, I managed to find a seat at a table shared with a nice elderly couple. I thanked them and proceeded to pour my drink into a glass. A nice cold Tiger may not be everyone's idea of lunch, but it's my solution to the heat and I just wanted to sit down and look-see around. The first bottle went by quite fast and on my second I just gazed into the crowd and the food stalls. There was certainly a heck lot more people looking for tables and than there were tables. Then my mind started wondering back to the subject movie and the masses in the urban jungle. There was something different though; there is no shortage of food. The people I observed weren't concerned with the lack of space as they were preoccupied with what to eat! Lots of choices! Too many! As the second Tiger started to kick in, a sudden utterance broke my gazen attention and reminded me the concerns of the locals wasn't the crowded conditions.
“Eat What!? Eat What!?” The man blurted out to his family as they vultured onto a vacant table, still uncleared of the bowls, plates, and detritus morsels of food left behind by the previous lunchers. Boy and mother quickly took their places to chope the table even before the plates were cleared. They quickly decided and papa and mama were off to get their fixes. Lunch was served and the family quickly slurped down their sodium-soaked slop without the niceties of table conversation. Chowing down was very business-like; without even the pleasantry of closing their mouths when munching, except for the maid. She was kinda sweet and petite compared to her somewhat boisterous and rough employers.
“Faster Eat! Faster Eat!” was the next thing I heard as the family headman again belched out orders to his clan as he glanced at his watch. “Coupon finish already.”
Well, Soylent Green was a great movie; we’re at that future and there isn’t shortage of wants. There’s ample. If only folk would sit back, talk to each other, and smell the roses. After all, what the heck are we working for?
Cheers!
