When I lived in the regions and had friends in Barcelona who I could never meet up with because of the distance, I dreamed of the day when I could afford to settle in the capital and see everyone, meet up often and enjoy relaxed chats and meals. When I finally became a Barcelona resident, I discovered that the reality in the metropolis was not what I expected: here nobody has time to meet up, everyone has so much work, so many things to do, they are so busy that they cannot have a coffee or a snack, a drink or dinner. I have friends that I saw more when I had to take the train to meet them. Acquaintances that I even make up with from time to time by chance and we stop for a while on the street and talk about topics that we are passionate about, we exchange opinions, ideas, etc. In this way, in a hurry and bothering the pedestrians who bump into us. When we realize that we are late and we have to leave, we always say the same thing: we have to meet up! Yes, yes, we must meet, we have to organize something, come on, let's do it, yes, let's do it this time. But weeks, months, years go by! And we have not satisfied the desire to see each other properly again, a desire that seemed urgent. No, we have not met. In my particular case, the absurd situation of meeting acquaintances at conferences, festivals and literary meetings has arisen... on the other side of the world. I met a writer who lived two streets away from me... in Colombia! And although we got on well and shared a pleasant conversation, we have not seen each other in person again.
I also have some responsibility for not being able to meet, I am not saying that I am not. I do not know how the rules of hospitality that I was taught at home are practiced in a city like Barcelona, and even more so when we all have a lot of work and many things to do. I imagine that employees who are required to be present must socialize in their work environment as I did when I was not yet a self-employed person who exploits myself. Perhaps that is the only thing I miss about working for others: the coexistence with colleagues, the social part that, structured by routine daily life, ended up weaving a kind of sense of belonging, of being part of something. I do not know if teleworking or technological control of workers still allow these spaces that escape pure and simple productivity.
But it is not only the changes in the work environment that have transformed our way of relating. The impact of high connectivity technology is having very palpable effects on the communication we establish with others and they are not always positive effects. One day I had a dream (lately I have political dreams, it must be my age) in which I asked my feminist colleagues to leave social networks and do as our predecessors did in the seventies, when they met in small groups to transform the world. I'm sure I'm suffering from an idealization of what that historic moment was like because of the famous photo in which Maruja Torres and Montserrat Roig proclaimed that they were also adulterers. I don't deny the ease that digital exchanges have given us when it comes to transmitting information and sending messages, but there is something dehumanizing about always talking to each other through a screen or a device. Communication is much more than what we say or write, the physical presence of the person in front of us is also important, their expression, their voice, with its inflections and nuances. For those of us with a fine nose, the smell of the other person and other elements impossible to transmit through WhatsApp are also important. Yes, I miss the three dimensions, the movement, the texture and the liveliness of their bodies, which are you. We'll meet, yes, we'll meet.
