Pancake Day
Do you remember when people used to gather in a physical location to do something as a way of socializing? While our society is changing in ways that can feel reminiscent of Orwell's novels, it's necessary to cherish the importance of real-time gatherings and opportunities to meet people outside the internet bubble.
Thanks to Noa, last night we had our own Pancake Day, an event that I had no clue about. Apparently, people make pancakes on this day, but what made it significant for us was the chance to do something together that didn't involve constantly checking our phones. Based on my screen time record, last night I had the least phone usage, just 15 minutes in almost 3 hours. We were playing “Mario Kart,” my other recent favorite social activity. Even though playing that game somehow turns my evil mode on, as I do have a semi-conscious tendency to hit my friends' cars, I still find a communal pleasure in playing video games with others, something that I haven't done since I was in middle school.
The other day, I was watching this YouTube video about "how nothing feels like an event anymore", and based on my experience, one of the things that might contribute to this sentiment is our fundamental desire for convenience. Undoubtedly, it's much easier for me to text my friends or play an online game anytime, anywhere, rather than planning for a certain day to go somewhere or prepare something to do. Nowadays, it's harder to gather people to do a social activity in the real world, and it's good that, from time to time, an "event" can make us free our time for each other and cherish the fact that we are lucky enough to know and have physical access to each other. Finally, I still don't know the historical origins or the exact context of Pancake Day, but now I have my own conceptualization, and hopefully, there will be more in the future.
Also links to:
Noa’s blog
https://meanwhiling.com/
The mentioned YouTube video
https://youtu.be/6rnWHRiSNhE?si=3pIDp6ZQES10HMWH