Places in Time
by Slider
There it is again...... that feeling I've felt before.........a definite
feeling of loss...........of sad milestones.........time passing......
"Streaks ref has closed down". Some years ago it was "IBM's ref has
closed down". The loss of the gathering place. The closure of one of the
more popular "neighborhood bars" of The Global Village. For the netizen
unfamiliar with CU, it is of no consequence. For those of us who people
this universe of flickering postage stamp sized videos, it is the
closing of a landmark.
Refs. They are nothing more than faceless programs running on silent
servers, collecting millions of bits and bytes, and reflecting them
around the planet at the speed of light. But they are the platforms that
the CU community is built upon. They are cursed and praised for their
speed or lack thereof. They are G-rated, X-rated, PG-rated, Not-rated.
Rated good. Rated bad. They burp. They sneeze. They cough. And
sometimes.........they close. Permanently.
For the vast majority of its users CU is a very transitory experience.
They cruise from one ref to another looking for "action". If they find
none, they log off and search elsewhere on the Net. But there are those
who take the time to "pull up a chair". They become the regulars on
their chosen ref. Eventually the same faces begin to be seen. The faces
and backgrounds become familiar and welcome. The ref becomes a "home" in
cyberspace. Friendships are forged. Romances bloom and fade. Real life
meetings are arranged. There is a sense of belonging. When their ref
closes down there is a sense of "homelessness". They find themselves
wandering from ref to ref looking for "the gang". Like cyberspace nomads
in search of a new home.
As a young boy I grew up on a cul-de-sac with a large oak tree at the
end of the street. We called it, strangely enough, "The Tree". It was a
place where all the neighborhood kids would gather after school, and on
weekends. We gauged our growth by how high we could climb its branches.
We played games in it's shade on hot summer days, and sat beneath it
telling ghost stories at night. Initials within hearts were carved into
it, then scratched out. For some it was a place for their first kiss.
Then one autumn day I turned the corner and "The Tree" was laying in
pieces on the ground. The city works department had come and cut it down
because of the complaints of a crotchety old lady regarding the size of
its roots. (No.......her last name wasn't Fudge). I remember the sense
of loss I felt that our gathering place was gone forever. Over the years
there have been several other places. A restaurant near the college. A
ballpark. Places that I associated with groups and friends that passed
through my life. I suppose it's only fitting that cyberspace, and
particularly CU, should also have these places in time. Places that
become pages where we write the memories of good friends and special
times. And when these places are gone, we feel the sense of loss, of
time passing........and simply turn the page.
Thanks for letting us sit under your tree for awhile Streak.
Slider
October 1998
