Paul Kammerer's (1905-1910) experiments on the midwife toad were done to find out whether adaptive characteristics of a generation of toads would be passed down to the next, genetically. The results of his experiments contributed to debates among scientists about inheritance in organisms.
Adaptation is the word that I am most curious about.
When I first came to Ireland, having lived in a robust city of 1.8 million (2017 census) for the most part of my life, to a town of 1484 residents (2016 census) the difference couldn't have been greater in every sense of the word. Speed, efficiency, urgency, immediacy, counters open for long hours, traffic jams - the composite factors of city life. Giving out numbers (and waiting in queue for your number to be displayed on the digital board) is part of the service many companies employ. Most places do not close for lunch breaks because staff have staggered lunch breaks.
So, in the town of 1484 residents, I find myself immersed in 2 regular scenes.
Scene 1: The supermarket/grocery shop
Imagine having to wait for minutes on end to hear the cashier chatting with a customer who had already paid for her shopping. They would chat as if there is no one in the queue and there you are waiting and waiting when all you want to do is to pay for your loaf of bread and to go back to what you have been doing. Even in bigger supermarkets, the cashier would greet you, then wait patiently for you to pack all your goods into your shopping bags, utter a quick enjoy your day before she starts checking out the goods from the next customer after you.
Scene 2: The Post Office/ the bank
Imagine public offices/ amenities closing their doors during lunch and someone having rushed all the way there only to find that he had just missed that crucial minute before the doors closed. An interesting activity would be this group of senior citizens chatting and exchanging pleasantries ( on pension day especially) outside the post office, way too early before the post office doors opened.
Then the years rolled on.
I was at a supermarket recently. Having done my weekly shopping, I made my way to the counter. After the cashier had charged me for the last item in my trolley, and all my groceries were on the 'loading bay' ready for me to put them into bags, she did something that took me by surprise. She put a bar on the loading bay so that my groceries would all be on one side of the bay. Then she quickly entertained the next customer and her stuff started filling up the next section of the loading bay, manually separated by the bar. Speed and efficiency. But I felt separated. I felt the pressure to quickly pack my bags and go.
Something similar happened to the Post Office as well. It moved from the original location where it had stood for years. Now it is in a corner of a building, stark and new. Metal stands and ropes divide the queues between the counters.. No fuss. Speed and efficiency. But no laughter or tales.
What had just happened?
Change.
Good and Bad.
By pushing forward, sometimes we lose the personal touch.
Like the midwife toad, i had adapted and now I must adapt again.
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