I had to drop my husband off at the train station this morning at 5:23 or somewhere there about. I was still sipping my coffee so I might be slightly off of the exact time, but either way it was just past 5 in the morning, it's still winter, it's dark, cold, and no one wants to be heading off to work at that time of day, I don't care if you are premier chocolate taster for whoever is the leading brand of chocolate right now. I don't think I can be convinced... unless you've been sleeping since 4pm the previous day, of course and really love your job like you would do cartwheels up and down the aisle of the purple line until it pulled into North Station.
So, we said our goodbyes and I watched him tramp up the steps and disappear along with the masses into the belly of the train, I put the car in reverse and made my way back home. It was when I pulled into the driveway and grabbed my precious coffee cup, pulled the keys out of the ignition, and reached for my phone when I realized that not only did I have one phone, I had two! Instantly I think, "I need to call/text him and let him know I have his phone!" Instantly, I realize that only I would be receiving that call or text. So ahead of me was a long day of no random funny texts or messages from my husband because I held in my hand his arms, legs, feet, and everything else. I had his source of life. It's so true that technology had become so necessary and important to us in our lives, that when it is taken away, even briefly as it was today, it sends one reeling in a way. I had to now call the actual place of employment and ask to speak to my husband. This is foreign to me. He answered so I didn't have to babble to a stranger so that was good! Calling a land line seemed odd to me. Furthermore, it was imperative that I speak to him because I hadn't a clue as to which station or at what time he would be returning in the evening. He usually calls or texts me and I show up. I got the proper information and was able to speak to him twice during the day, which is fine, but when I pulled into the station where he said he would be at the appointed time, my own phone's power ran out. This is when it came to me, that the 48 hour missing person rule is completely outdated.
In this age of instantaneous updates on all sorts of technological devices that reach everywhere and beyond the Arctic it seems, there really is no reason why a law enforcement agency shouldn't take seriously someone's claim that a person was missing. Granted there should be a slew of criteria, but today proved that even without cell phones, there is still the computer, the land line of his work, I could have called a friend of his who he worked with or any number of people or even driven to Boston and waltzed into his workplace calling his name like a raving lunatic. He would not have appreciated it and I would be mortifyingly embarrassed and would never do such a thing in the first place, but the point is that we no longer live in the days of horse drawn buggies where someone travels months and months somewhere with no word and that was normal. If someone doesn't text us back in more than a few minutes, we start to get antsy. If someone was truly missing, it wouldn't take two full days to know. Or would it?
Then again, maybe we have gotten too used to being so accessible. A few moments without the telephone ringing, texts binging and the little bleeps of chat windows popping up the second one logs into the computer, is almost crippling and piercingly silent. Where is everyone? A quiet panic ensues until the "dead zone" you might have walked into has cleared or whatever interference may have occurred is cleared up, and all is right in the world, everyone is where they should be and you are no longer alone. Maybe we are just too spoiled with all of this nonstop need for technological contact. If I don't get a text response from a friend for a few hours, should I panic? Is he or she in a morgue somewhere? Trapped in a mine? Trying to text me of some evil event and has no little bars lit up on their phone? The most likely answer is, no, they are probably taking a moment of real life. Maybe enjoying the silence, away from all the blipping and technological burps we have gotten so accustomed to hearing on a daily basis.
So, maybe there is a good reason for the 48 hour rule after all.
