When I was young my mother insisted we have a party line on our phone. It was less expensive. I was trained to only answer the phone if it rang with two short rings. We never knew who picked up when the phone rang in other patterns. If I picked up the phone and heard someone else talking I was instructed to put the phone back on the receiver quickly but gently and never to listen in to what the other people on the line were saying to each other.

Guarding privacy is so much more difficult today than it once was. I can’t tell who is looking at what I post on social media or what they are trying to learn about me. The privacy policy statements that arrive in my email are written in enough legalese that I find them unintelligible. Strangers are able to peek into what I believe, what I desire, and how I vote. What used to be considered spying is now considered a security measure done in the name of safety. Businesses and special interest groups collect data on me in the name of providing me with what I want. Sometimes if I get what I want I get more than I need.

Day 27 (of 31 days of free writing)