I remember reading a book by Thomas Friedman called “The World is Flat”. The premise of this book is that the world is getting smaller and more globalized through technology. There is a question he asked in the book that I had not given thought to until I came up from a dive one day in Bonaire.
Mary and I were staying at the Divi Resort and decided to do an afternoon shore dive. After the dive Mary went back to the room and I stayed under the pier to look for blennies and gobies. As I was coming up from the dive next to the rocky shore I startled a woman prying something from the rocks. She had a baggie in one hand and a knife in the other so I asked her what she was doing. She showed me the bag filled with some kind of fish meat and said she was getting chitons to eat.
She was in a raggedy t-shirt and worn out shorts, no shoes and here she was prying these chitons off rocks to make soup for her supper. I spoke with her a while, stowed my gear and went back to the room.
I was in the room completing my dive log when I heard a voice outside the sliding glass door facing the ocean. I opened the door and there was the “chiton lady” standing on a rock looking out over the ocean, knife and baggie in one hand and cell phone to her ear, having a lively conversation.
Looking at the lady standing there I thought of Mr. Friedman’s question. “When did you first realize the world was flat?” For me it was the “chiton lady”.
When Mary and I first started traveling you were hard pressed to even find a telephone but now cell phones are ubiquitous; even chiton ladies have them. Once upon a time beach side hotels were surrounded by palm trees and mangroves and the only “hot spot” was the local bar not some Wi Fi java joint. But things change.
Leave a comment and let us know when you first realize that the world was flat.
Mary and I were staying at the Divi Resort and decided to do an afternoon shore dive. After the dive Mary went back to the room and I stayed under the pier to look for blennies and gobies. As I was coming up from the dive next to the rocky shore I startled a woman prying something from the rocks. She had a baggie in one hand and a knife in the other so I asked her what she was doing. She showed me the bag filled with some kind of fish meat and said she was getting chitons to eat.
She was in a raggedy t-shirt and worn out shorts, no shoes and here she was prying these chitons off rocks to make soup for her supper. I spoke with her a while, stowed my gear and went back to the room.I was in the room completing my dive log when I heard a voice outside the sliding glass door facing the ocean. I opened the door and there was the “chiton lady” standing on a rock looking out over the ocean, knife and baggie in one hand and cell phone to her ear, having a lively conversation.
Looking at the lady standing there I thought of Mr. Friedman’s question. “When did you first realize the world was flat?” For me it was the “chiton lady”.
When Mary and I first started traveling you were hard pressed to even find a telephone but now cell phones are ubiquitous; even chiton ladies have them. Once upon a time beach side hotels were surrounded by palm trees and mangroves and the only “hot spot” was the local bar not some Wi Fi java joint. But things change.
Leave a comment and let us know when you first realize that the world was flat.
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