The Digital Hobo

"'I, uh,' Flynn fumbled, knowing now that this was no digitized man of the Other World."
--pg. 82

Ah, yes, the Other World-- a world of train whistles and lonely boxcars, cans of beans simmering above cook fires, the lip of a greasy bottle of cooking sherry wiped with a shirtsleeve and passed on... a world without Health Insurance and Mortgage Brokers, without Guest Towels and Lawn Mowers...

A world in which it is possible to lie on one's back and flip open one's tattered and battered copy of 'Tron: A Novel by Brian Daley based on a Screenplay by Steven Lisberger Story by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird' to the 'About The Author' page and read this: "Brian Daley was born in rural New Jersey in 1947 and currently lives at no fixed address."

That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen. I refer to none other than the world of the Hobo.

But wait-- A Digitized Hobo? Does such a being exist? Someone who tosses their Blackberry in a Bindle and hops onto the Information Monorail? Behold The Wisdom of The Internets: "Some hobos now communicate via cellular phones and e-mail."

In this Brave New World of Digital Hoboing, one can approach a friendly house with hat in hand: "Excuse me, Ma'am. Spare any Bandwidth?"

Ah, woe. Whatever happened to the simple hoboing days of yore? When a man could get beaten up by railroad bulls without instantly running down to the local internet cafe to blog about it on Hobobeatdown.com? Those days, my friend, have flown-- retreating ever father into the sepia-toned sunset of history.