The Black Box That Brings Happiness (And Gets Rid Of The Orange Man)

James Rozoff
4 min readSep 18, 2024
Photo by Javier Miranda on Unsplash

Bobbi wasn’t overly eager to meet with Susan, but the offer of brunch at Topolino’s was too good to pass up. Besides, it was important to keep in touch with old friends.

She had known Susan since before the days of smart phones. But nowadays, every time they got together, it seemed Susan’s finger always scrolled leisurely down her phone as they talked. And while she gave the appearance that she wasn’t giving her attention to the screen, Bobbi couldn’t help think it was her she wasn’t giving her attention to.

So she was surprised when she arrived at Topolino’s to see Susan sitting at a table without the habitual phone in her hand. Instead, she had a black box (approximately 8” in each dimension) sitting on the table in front of her. There was a button on top of it which she continually pressed.

“Well, hello,” said Susan, with genuine affection. Whatever trepidation Bobbi may have had soon vanished as she realized what she had always appreciated about her friend. At her best, she was absolutely charming.

The two were soon in conversation about what was new in their lives, and yet not once did Susan stop to explain the box in front of her. Nor did she once cease from repeatedly pushing the button.

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