Has anyone noticed that humans seem to be looking down more than up since the invention of texting? People walk past each other in the streets scraping shoulders as they shuffle forward while texting with their BFF’s “LOL-ing” and “OMG-ing”. Walking through the streets has become a virtual game of frogger, dodging absent minded people who have disconnected with reality.
When did this happen? When did we stop speaking to each other in the street, greeting each other with hellos and smiles? We have dismissed the smile for an emoticon.
People sit in restaurants across form each other eating over priced sushi with chopsticks in one hand and their smart phones in the other. They text their friends as they sip their sake and ignore the person across from them. Has it become insecurity? Do we need to show that we are loved and in demand by ignoring the person in front of them?
People are falling into fountains, getting hit by cars and spilling their fat free low foam lattés as they run around the city. The power of that little machine is unparalleled. We can email in our underwear from anywhere in the world stating that we are at our desks and solving world problems. It is a lie that never goes untested as long as you are clever enough to disable the GPS on your cell phone.
When I attended University we had two phone booths on the floors of the residence and shockingly we all came out un-scathed. None of us had internet, or computers in our rooms. We all met at the local pub Thursday nights to giggle and catch up. When we wanted to talk to someone we walked across campus and knocked on their door.
I hear now that student pubs are closing down, nobody wants a roommate and everyone stays in their rooms ticking away on their computers interacting through social feeds. Acts of violence are on the rise on campuses.
We rely on these machines for face time never knowing that more often than not our words are miss-construed or misunderstood. One sentence can be read many different ways, as tone is lost in the text. Are we losing the ability to communicate with other human beings? Are we going to be stuck in dark cubicles sending emails to each other and incapable of looking each other in the eyes?
Words are easy when you don’t have to look someone in the eyes as you type them. A rant is dismissed when you can’t physically see someone’s heart break. It’s easy to throw rocks at someone when they can’t see you. What a cowardly act.
Dinners at our home are analog dinners. No technology is allowed at the table. Face time is more important than tech time. We need to teach our kids the old fashioned way. They need to learn a good handshake and how to say please and thank you. They need to know that you stand behind your word, and never say anything you don’t mean.
Sometimes I feel like we are living in an Orwellian society. We are giving up our identities to the internet, posting our every thought on line for the world to see. The word “friend” clicked on a screen gives someone we may not really know access to our lives, our deepest secrets and access to photos of our precious children. Once it’s out there…you can’t take it back.
The digital world brings great value to our lives. We have the ability to find out anything with the click of a button. The downside is that people are spending more time with their technology than each other. Street hockey and nicki-nickie nine doors are a thing of the past. Remember how great it felt to be a kid at the cottage? Remember when the power went out during a heat wave and there was not a breath of air. You got out of bed and walked down to the lake for a midnight swim with your family to cool off. Do you remember that? Did you have your cell phone with you?
The best lessons and memories for our kids are what we did with them, not what we texted.
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