Information Interruptus

 CNN got in trouble a few weeks ago for its tone deaf cut from air-raid sirens in Ukraine to an Applebee's commercial. Of course the network apologized for the machinery that created such insensitivity, but was it really necessary? We are the beasts that line up to the trough of twenty-four hour news coverage, and in an attempt to keep that vein open, pushers like CNN have gone to great lengths to get us all tuned in and stuck there as they slide their advertisements in on half the screen while on the other side the horrors of the day continue unabated. This is the world in which we currently live. We have evolved into multi-tasking freaks that register horror and pain while planning a night out with the family. 

Don't believe me? Check out all the places where you can find televisions on all day long. Waiting in line for your table at Applebee's or a casual dining station of your choosing you are likely to find a discretely mounted large screen piping in details of the day's tragedies. The deal CNN had with airports around the country to play all twenty-four hours of their new to travelers as they made their way to vacation destinations far away from the headline crush expired only recently due to the decline in air traffic that came along with COVID-19. Which begs the question: If news breaks in an empty airport, did it really happen?

But it's not just CNN where this creepy need to stay informed shows up. Google and all its attendant information tentacles reach out to remind you of all the news they feel you need to know. Now you can keep up with the Kardashians, manage your stock portfolio and catch up on the latest scores while you sit in the bathroom stall of your favorite Applebee's. Or you can stay up to date on the carnage around the globe while you're waiting for the movie about carnage in Gotham City to start. 

And all of these "services" come to you with a heapin' helpin' of hype. Want to know about the shooting at the car show in Arkansas? Prepare to sift through the pop ups and sidebars and the occasional insistence that you subscribe to the free news service that shovels all this content at you. At the bottom of the page, you will probably be invited to click on other stories "you might like." 

Because we do, you know. We do like to have information shoveled at us. Because we are so very hungry. For a little bit of chicken and an ice cold beer to go with our chaos.