For Once

But first, the old post

lovemyevilnoIf you can

Be patient…

For Once

I was looking at the blog stats, this morning, and realized that poetry had at last topped “how do I answer my phone” in searches leading readers here. But just barely. And while I’m grateful for any readers, most days, it makes me a little sad. I mean, that post about answering calls on Samsung Galaxy phones has been around since 2019 and people still can’t answer their phone. To be fair, they can’t answer it the way they want to, which is to tap the button on the lock screen once, not slide it towards the hang-up icon or use one of the side buttons. Such a seeminly small annoyance, and yet… This got me to thinking about other “seemingly small annoyances” and how much we take for granted. Which led to a poem. And more thoughts.

For once, I hate poetry
has overtaken how do Ianswer a call? I only wish
to tap the screen
not sliiiiiiide a button
(like those iPhone users do)
not skate my fingertip
across ice-smooth Gorilla glass - 
just tap. And yet, "accessibility"
gets in my way, at every turn.
That floating menace menu
dancing, mocking me as if 
to say we can 
inconvenience you 
and those who need us most.
And I am acutely aware, now
how grudging the accommodations -
how resentful they are. How
they are designed to make us 
all resentful 
of the little things. Like
sliding a finger
or feeling the cold stall
wall against a hip
where they removed inches
to make one - just one -
wide enough for a wheelchair
when they could have removed 
a sink. It hasn't worked
of course. It's only served 
to make me grateful 
for those stolen moments I 
would cheerfully give
that there, but by the grace
of fate, go I.

OK, fine…here’s your update

Galaxy users, if you’ve read this far: With the Galaxy 25+ (and maybe models before it) and Android 16, it’s easy – it’s no longer hidden behind the Accessibility menu. Just open Settings and search for “gesture to answer calls” and select “Tap” (or “Swipe” – ain’t choice grand?).

More for the “I hate poetry” folks

A couple of book recommendations:

First, just about anything by Billy Collins, to get you enjoying the reading of poetry. Forget your high school assignments and your teachers’ insistence on you picking apart meaning from T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” or some dusty Shakespeare sonnet (though I do recommend you grown-ups take a closer look at #130).

Second, if you’re ready to try writing a few lines of your own, a delightful book I’ve just started reading: The Ode Less Traveled: Unlocking the Poet Within, by Stephen Fry.

All of you, go forth and have a marvelous day!
H.