So, we’re sitting in the waiting area at the Jefferson SEPTA* station with half an hour to wade through before our train home. Despite the upgrades, it’s still kind of depressing; I think it’s because of the lighting. There’s always some form of people-watching entertainment, but that pales fairly quickly. Waiting for the train to arrive, time feels flexible; it drags along then suddenly rushes with accompanying anxiety as the train approaches. As I looked around the waiting area on the upper level (there are two levels–track level and the waiting area above it), I noticed what seemed to be an anomaly next to the pillar flashing advertisements about Jefferson hospital. On closer inspection I saw that it was this short story dispenser.
Following the directions, I hovered my hand over each of the three buttons and received a poem (1 minute read), a children’s story (3 minute read) and a short story (5 minute read). The texts spooled out of the slot on sturdy 3” wide paper. I was charmed and thrilled by what I received, and I’m grateful that SEPTA chose to install the kiosks created by Short Éditions. Short Éditions aims to engage the community while boosting literacy, encouraging reading for pleasure, and providing a platform for published and emerging writers.
Short Éditions created the kiosks and technology in 2016, and the first machines appeared in Grenoble, France. The kiosks are now placed all around the world, with 8 of them in the Philadelphia area–SEPTA center city stations, the Free Library, Temple University, and the airport. Penn State University has them located at several of their satellite campuses. I’m so fascinated by the gift of these stories, that I’ve been scrolling through the website of Short Éditions, reading the press coverage from around the world. Francis Ford Coppola was drawn to the concept after reading an article in The New Yorker, and he introduced the story dispenser at his Zoetrope Cafe in San Francisco.
The 1-minute story I received is a poem by Mike Hickman titled “Chatter,” written as a narrative addressing a You whose voice and chatter absorb all of the narrator’s mental space. The 3-minute story, “Spark, the Not So Hot Dragon” by Emily Dorffer is about a dragon whose flame is not hot enough to make glass, but is just right for baking cookies. Emil Draitser’s 5-minute short story, “A Bunch of Early Mimosas” is about two men who had emigrated as adults, one from Bulgaria, the narrator from Russia. They live on opposite coasts of the US now, but meet occasionally and reminisce. The story feels like overhearing the conversation at the next table, a conversation more interesting than the one the poor fellow in “Chatter” is experiencing.
Although I am a bit embarrassed by the fact that I’m only discovering the story dispenser now, I am so grateful to have received this gift. It makes the commute more delightful and an experience to share.
* SEPTA–Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is the governing body for public transit in Philadelphia and the five county region surrounding the city.
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