Attention Span

I sit at the pool’s edge, my feet dangling in the cool water, and wonder, “Is my attention span shortening?”

Who knows?

But it sure feels like it is.

Have TikTok and Candy Crush compressed my ability to remain focused for less than 8.25 seconds?

As I wonder, I get lost studying the reflections of the shadows of fronds on the water’s surface.

Yes, reflections of shadows.

Then my attention refocuses on an article I read in the Forward about a Boca executive of a Porsche dealership resigning from his position after allegedly texting anti-Semitic statements to a potential female customer who decided to take their business elsewhere.

Here were his words, “As usual, you behave like a spoiled Jew c**t who thinks you’re special but you’re not, and then for good measure he added, ‘You not buying a car from me is like a gift from G-d.'”

How did he know she was Jewish?

Was she acting like a spoiled Jew c**t?

Do we think we’re special?

Does G-d bestow gifts on mere mortals?

As I thought about these questions, my attention drifted off to the dark mirror images of the shadows on the pool’s surface.

And as I lifted my cold legs out of the pool, I reflected on two last questions.

Would the Porsche executive have texted those words if he knew it was going to cost him his job?

And whether this antisemite was also addicted to TikTok and Candy Crush?