Scrolling

By Kimberly Rowe

PROMPT — The way I see it ...

What happens when I am waiting? It depends on what I am waiting for. I try to get to my son’s school early enough to get a parking spot. Sometimes I’ll bring a book, but mostly I just scroll. I used to check the news on Facebook first before the app removed that feature. “That’s all for now” or “you’re all caught up” or something like that. Let’s check Google. More local stuff than on FB. Nothing new really. I’ll check the news app on my phone. First politics. Keep scrolling. A bunch of articles I can only read if I subscribe to Apple News. Should I re-up? No, it’s not worth the money. Keep scrolling. Let’s find the People app. I need something that doesn’t require too much thought. Celebrity news. Look, so and so are promoting a new product. Click. It takes me to an Amazon link. Those ones got me a few times before I realized they were ads. I even bought a pair of jeggings once. They were comfy. Keep scrolling. What does Buzzfeed have to say? Twenty times someone did something to someone or somehow? Yep, it’s all newsworthy, especially for people like me who sometimes don’t want to think too hard. Maybe I should start a Buzzfeed survey. What would it be about? Something meaningful (to me) but not too thought-provoking. It's almost 3:50. The bell is going to ring. Then I can get out and wait for him to come find me by my truck after he says goodbye to his friends. Unless he wants to stay and play for a while, in which case I will wait some more, but that is okay. Maybe I’ll sit outside and strike up a conversation with another mom. No, that’s not me. I’ll probably keep scrolling.

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Kimberly Rowe is a wife, mother, veteran, and student. Kim grew up in California, but has made Colorado her home for the past sixteen years. She spent her first 16 years in the Air Force in Logistics. Her final four years, she was an instructor of leadership and management. After retiring from the Air Force, Kim began teaching Composition, Professional Writing, and Literature at multiple colleges in person and online. Kim earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in English from University of Maryland and her Master’s of Arts in English from Northwestern State University in Louisiana. Her Master’s thesis was entitled, "Fairy Tale Stepmothers: A Study of the Grimms Depictions of Fairy Tale Stepmothers and the Acceptance of Stepmothers Today" with many other forms of media used to support how mass media impacts public perceptions and beliefs when it comes to being a stepmother. Kim is now a full-time student at Bay Path University, pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Non-Fiction. She writes from Colorado Springs, CO.