How connected are you - really?
Lately I've been noticed a marked decline in civility. Everyone seems to be rushed, terse, short on patience and manners. All of these factors seem to denote a lack of true connectedness between human beings - in spite of the fact that we're "plugged in" to each other like never before. Interesting isn't it, that I make these observations in an age where everybody seems to be capable of almost instantaneous connection to just about anyone, anywhere on this vast planet. Even the "Luddites" among us, myself included, have bought into the notion that everyone needs to have constant internet access and a cell phone on hand at all times. We are obsessed with the flimsiness of technological connections, so much so that our interpersonal relationships are suffering.
Case in point - in my rush to get out the door on my way out of town for a few days, I forgot two items at home - my cell phone and my watch. Loathe as I am to make such a confession, I'm feeling a bit lost - wondering constantly what time it is and whether one of the (admittedly few) people who have my cell phone number might be trying in vain to call me. And you know what? My phone dependance is probably about one on a scale of zero to ten. I don't like the thing much, and miss the feeling that I can travel incognito, unreachable by anyone at all. Heck, I even downgraded to a more basic model when the first one I got refused to hold a charge. Still, now that I've grown accustomed to being tethered to my portable locator I feel strangely vulnerable without it.
Look around you when you are in any public place. Make note of how many people are fiddling with their telephones. Observe the packs of roaming teens who, while traveling together, are all still managing to rather pointedly ignore the people who are physically present in favor of texting or chatting with those who aren't. Scarier still, go to a nice restaurant with your significant other and you'll see a lot of other couples dining together/apart, each with phones out, ignoring the person they THINK they're spending "quality time" with so that they can check in with Facebook or surf the internet or respond to emails from the office.
Am I the only one who thinks priorities are a little out of whack? Why is it that this false sense of connectedness to an online/over a receiver audience has taken over our commitment to what I call "realtime facetime", not to mention our commitment to our jobs, our responsibilities and our physical health?
We have all become addicted to immediacy and bought into the notion that we need to be accessible to the masses at all times. We are bombarded with electronic stimuli, and starving for a real sense of community and congeniality in our lives. I'd like to think it's not too late to make changes - to learn to check your phone at the door, to limit your after-hours business calls and your time on the computer.
This poem was written as a response to a scene my husband witnessed at an airport, the kind of thing we all see, but seldom notice...
Communion: (Sharon flood Kasenberg - February '09)
A man seen at an airport
in reverential stance
appeared to be in consort
with God upon first glance.
But on closer inspection
I had to heave a sigh -
what first escaped detection
had now captured my eye.
It seemed his rapt attention
was not given to prayer,
but to modern invention
a "Blackberry" was there,
held reverently in his hands
and cradled near his heart;
as he entered his commands
it did wisdom impart.
It's terribly ironic -
the way that we commune -
with all things electronic
we're ever more in tune.
