CUBICLES AND DRAGONS

I've a hairline fracture on my left foot and have spent a few days house bound in hopes of resting the limb and hastening the healing. As a result, I've watched a lot more television programs than usual -- and was flabbergasted to note how many of these shows involve fantasy worlds and mythical characters. 


Vampires abound and live forever, Camelot thrives with a dark twist and a race of horse eating Dothrakis ride the grassy plains, in search of dragons while in the north soldiers stand guard over a wall of ice. Scenery is lush, the clothing worthy of a schizophrenic Paris runway and the music is one crescendo after another. 

It's no wonder these themes have captured the hearts of so many -- for we have become a nearly virtual society, whether it be work or play, tethered to some facet of technology which keeps many from participating in a real activity. 


Why leave the house to see theater when you can watch it on your phone? Why visit a friend in person when you can check in on Facebook? Why join a sports league when Wii is in your living room? 


So is it any surprise that the more technologically advanced we become, the more glued we get to computers and cubicles, are we subconsciously craving action, adventure and dare I say it -- a sense of romance in an era where it seems to be a lost art? 


Go into many homes and the evidence is all there -- gigantic television screens with "home entertainment systems" in sterile, utilitarian rooms devoid of any personality where pseudo-zombies sit and stare, eating microwaved meals in plastic dishes while texting on a cell phone. And yet onscreen dragons fly, swords clash, horses thunder over mountains and romance abounds -- things not likely to happen or fit within the confines of a cubicle. 


Amen, and pass the mustard.