Great expectations

In writing a recent Just Thinkin’, I was reminded that a genuine mystery lay in expectation. I believe expectation enhances most human experiences. Expectation, anticipation generates an eagerness that sharpens the imagination.

Historically, I have found the role of our expectations, especially in the realm of imagination and progress, to be well examined in this passage from Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s play, Inherit the Wind. The Henry Drummond character says, “Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there’s a man who sits behind a counter and says, “All right, you can have a telephone but you will lose privacy and the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder puff or your petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline.”

Those of us who have lived a few years realize that progress does come at a price. As our relationship with our devices grow and our dependence upon technology increases, our skills with human interaction fade. And our relationship with our natural world diminishes.

Expectation and anticipation. Hope and eagerness. Perception. I remember a St. Louis Cardinals play by play radio announcer talking about the impact he foresaw television having upon his business. His comparison was, “Radio creates a visual imagine in the fan’s mind, a curiosity, they want to come out to the ballpark. Television satisfies the curiosity.”

Likely to no one’s surprise, I always looked forward to books. The state did not provide free textbooks until I was in high school. Textbooks for Stigler and many rural schools were purchased at a store owned by my Uncle and Aunt, the Stigler 5 & Up. I couldn’t wait for the new Readers to come in. What a selection of stories! The idea of new stories spiked my curiosity. I helped opening the boxes and stacking the books on the shelves. No, I’m not certain how much help a Third grader can be. Anyway, I’d sit on a box in the stock room with black GE rotating fan set on high and making regular passes over me. Wonderful summer days. Books, like baseball announcers, created curiosity. Is it lost? Can we recapture it? Does technology satisfy?

I watch a middle schooler walking from school, head plunged into their phone, oblivious to their peers and I wonder. I wonder what are they curious about. Are they satisfied or still searching? Their expectations? What mystery lies on the screen? It is sure a mystery to me. I have an idea. I’ll ask them. Perhaps I’ll discover something I didn’t expect.

High expectations are the key to everything. – Sam Walton

Hal McBride writes a column, Just Thinkin’, published each week.