One Plate Of Dessert Or Social Media?

She quickly put the ingredients she bought from the market on the kitchen counter. “There is only a little time left until dinner, I need to make this halva as soon as possible.” she thought. The site where Khadija lived was small. From time to time, she would greet and chat with a few of her neighbors. However, she did not have a neighbor whom she was very close to and whom she saw regularly.
 
On this night, she wanted to make halva and distribute it to her neighbors. The smell of halva pervaded the entire site. It was getting dark in the evening. Thinking that her neighbors might be home in the evening, she started distributing the halva.

 

She knocked on her neighbors' doors one by one. Some people opened the door smilingly and took their halva. Some people said, "We won't eat it, thank you. Take it back so it doesn't go to waste." and turned it down. Some of them were very surprised about this gesture like, "What does this mean?" Even though some were at home, they did not even have the courtesy to open the door.

 

She returned with several full plates in her hands. “Oh oh!” said. “Were the blessed nights like this in our childhood?” In our childhood, all the neighbors would compete in making halva on this blessed night. At home, halva was cooked in huge pots, and the cooked halva was distributed to neighbors. Those who could not make halva would fry the dough.

 

Sometimes it was a dessert or a pastry, distributed to the neighbors. Sometimes a grape from the village, sometimes a tarhana. Afterward, as you decided not to send your neighbor's plate empty, those plates would pile up on top of each other. Neighbors would go door to door trying to find out whose plate they had. Wasn't it a matter of remembering someone on these holy days, praying for each other, asking for their well-being, and gaining their hearts?

 

What happened that people changed so much?

 

Many things were not the same as before. “Why are relations so distant, why are there no neighbors like before?” she started to think. In the past, we used to live in houses with gardens, and as children, we would not come down from the treetops. We grew vegetables and fruits in our garden and raised animals. We used to gather in houses or gardens and chat for hours. Now, we live in high-rise buildings, unaware of our neighbors downstairs. Forget about dessert, we don't have anyone to bring soup if we are sick.

 

Nowadays, every home has at least one computer and everyone from age 7 to 70 has a phone. There are social media apps for people to keep busy! People are so intertwined with technological devices such as computers and mobile phones... We congratulate blessed nights, holidays, and even birthdays only online. “Could spending too much time on social media, result in distant relationships?” she thought.

People started chatting on social media rather than meeting each other. However, all these tools existed so that people could communicate more easily. They provided a great advantage in terms of communication.

 

Technology has brought many conveniences but also many difficulties to our lives.

 

Did the increase in opportunities reduce people's need to communicate with each other?

 

Khadija remembered her high school years for a moment. There were no cell phones back then. There were pay phones on the streets. There would be rows in front of the hut, everyone holding a token. The aim was to chat with someone and ask how they were, even if only for a minute, with just a coin. Sometimes people would go to that hut to get a date or to organize a meeting with friends on a special day. We would meet either at the famous Taksim Square, Bakırköy Train Station, or Kadıköy Pier at 13:00. Even if your friend was late, it was expected because he either missed the minibus or the bus. Because he didn't have a mobile phone, he couldn't call and ask where he was. That's why everyone made sure to be at the meeting place on time. Both the time to meet and the people were valued. That meeting would last all day and there would be endless topics to talk about. Nobody wanted to return home.

 

“Well, those were the days,” she said longingly.

 
“I wish everything were the way it was before…”
 
This was a situation that was in one's own hands. Khadija decided after thinking for a long time. Maybe nothing would be the same as before, but she would prefer to meet with her friends face to face, just like before. Not on the phone or social media. For her, spending effort and time for this was a sign of respect shown to that person.
 
“There should be no time between decision and action.” And she took the phone to call her friend Oya, whom she had not seen for five years:
 
-Hello dear Oya, how are you?
-Oh hello Khadija, I'm very surprised! Thank God I'm fine, how are you?
 
Her friend Oya started to speak, thinking that it would be a long phone conversation, but Khadija interrupted her and said:
-I'll tell you what. If we talk on the phone, it would take hours. What days of the week are you available? How about planning a breakfast? We can chat like we used to.
 
Her friend Oya was surprised. No one had made her such an offer in a long time.
 
“Of course, my friend, that would be great. We will reminisce about the old days, I miss you so much too. It will be good for both of us to meet. Besides, I have a lot to tell you, a lot.” said.
 
Khadija hung up the phone with a smile. Then she looked at the latest smartphone in her hand and at the plates of dessert that she couldn't give to her neighbors on the counter. She remembered what she witnessed that night. And the meeting she planned at the end of the night.
 
 "Wow!" he said to himself. Who would have thought that a plate of dessert could bring people closer together like this?

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