Some peppy folks like to say that the technology of tomorrow is already available today — they swear it’s all online. Mostly, such comments, and their many varieties, surface when those same folks are screwing in a Samsung wall mount in their kitchen and feeling like they reign supreme in the world — all because they’ll be able to watch the nightly news at a more comfortable angle, even as they go about whipping up some batter for Mexican chiles rellenos à la Martha Stewart. Of course it’d be a blatant understatement to say that there are plenty of reasons to explain TV’s popularity.

With an upgraded tube’s Samsung cable securely in place, and providing excellent image quality, the outside world can seem to recede. In the face of such a tableau, it is easy to suppose that enjoying a decently homey and warm meal while a muted or loud slideshow of the horrors and triumphs of the world flashes by on the small screen can induce, in sensitive types, at least, an overwhelming sense of relief that they are not the ones experiencing the intense turmoil, whether in a good sense or a bad one. So many times, it’s gratifying to know that the most one has to think about for the evening is typing in correctly a product identifier, like da29-00003b, into a search engine so that a proper fridge filter is not too long coming.

Oh, such are the small pleasures and disquietudes of daily life. There are moments when receiving a long awaited package in the mail can seem like the second coming of something extraordinarily grand, but, at other times, the prompt delivery of a slightly different model of the Samsung waste toner container actually ordered can make even a high-as-can-be crest come tumbling down in a hurry — there’s placing the order again, calling about how to turn to the mailed product in the speediest manner, and then finding time during work to make it to the post office. Alas, if only the waste toner containers could be teletransported to their correct locations! Well, at least it’s only a small inconvenience in the large scheme of things.

Sam Walters is a writer living in Los Angeles. Her writing appears in print and online.