As I sat at dinner the other night, watching the two ladies at the table across from me, both on their cell phones….I wondered, do they even realize how insane they look?
How can you go to dinner with someone and then spend half of the evening on the phone talking to someone else?
And even more so, how can you be so inconsiderate to the people around you to be screaming into your mobile phone in a restaurant!
Awareness people! Realize that the world is bigger, and much more interesting than you are! Well, at least for these two people who obviously were too busy to socialize and interact with someone sitting right in front of them.
Bridging that gap between appropriate and inappropriate is sometimes difficult. We live in a world of technology that makes it easier than ever to reach family, friends, business partners, and customers with the mere touch of a button.
And instantly, they are there. Because they too have the technology and don’t hesitate to use it no matter where they are.
Technology has a downside…it has made our lives much less personal than before. I myself have fallen victim to technology, and love to send text messages. I find that sending a text message is MUCH more appropriate that picking up the phone sometimes, especially if I am in a public place. But even then, looking around a room to see everyone punching buttons madly into their phone takes some of the joy out of life too.
I recently realized as well, I need to make a change, so I’ve decided that I can no longer stand to talk on the phone. I get bored very easily with what the other person has to say when I’m on the phone, so it’s time to stop…if I can’t sit face to face with you and have a conversation, it’s just not the same.
I want to be aware of your rich and interesting facial expressions, the intonation in your voice that is often lost over a digital connection (and especially in an email or text message), and I want to know that you are indeed paying attention to me when I am talking to you instead of finishing up that last email to your boss before leaving for the day.
Being aware of the world around you is what it’s all about. Cliché to say “stop and smell the roses” but do people even realize there are still roses any more?
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” - Leo Tolstoy