The Day After Yesterday

 Your attention please! This is your President, Nico Sanchez. I have important news for all residents of the United States of America. Within the next fifteen minutes, the internet and computer infrastructure will be purposely demolished. Cyberterrorism has become rampant, as has identity theft, and the private citizens of our great nation have become distant and unfeeling towards one another, more interested in online life than real events happening in front of them, thanks to the distance that computer technology has put between us in our personal and daily interactions. Because of this, I have authorized the appropriate government agencies to destroy the infrastructure so that it is beyond repair and use. Going forward and over time, of course, the infrastructure will be rebuilt, but with the understanding that it will never be allowed to control the lives of our citizens the way that it has in the past. It is understood that this will initially cause great disruptions in daily life. Unfortunately, no warning could be given, because there are those who would have sought to prevent this action from ever being taken. You, the people of the United States of America, elected me because of my promise to do what is in the best interests of our country, and it is my honor and privilege….and duty….to do so. For this reason, I have determined that this is the best course of action to take, for the good of the American people as a whole. There will be remaining landline phones, for TRUE emergencies and long distance communication, and of course, the US postal service is prepared to accommodate the increased surge of mail, in the absence of electronic means of communications. Local agencies are setting up classes to assist those who are not accustomed to nondigital business transactions, for example, those in the younger generations of the population. At this time, I am not taking questions from the media, but a question and answer session is being arranged, to occur within the next five days. Thank you for you attention and patience.”

And with that, service was cut off, and cell phones were no longer receiving texts.
But for the time being, the family that was camping alongside the peacefully flowing river knew none of this. They went hiking and swimming and played fetch with their dog. That evening, they roasted hotdogs and marshmallows over their campfire, and told ghost stories. The batteries in the old transistor radio they had brought with them were dead, and so were their cell phones, but not a one of them cared. They learned that they actually enjoyed one another’s company.
The next day, which was rainy, they spent in their tent petting their dog, reading and passing around old comic books, and playing cards. Life was good, and it remained good, even when they returned home from their camping trip and learned of the new, and to some extent, returning, challenges that they faced. Was it the same? No; it was better!