Do you remember that commercial for the Windows Phone, in which, people are depicted as being absurdly connected to and engaged in their handheld devices, and wind up doing ridiculous things because of it (like dropping their phone into a urinal and then picking it out, because they were texting while relieving themselves)? The other person in the scene, who is shown as casually smarter or at least more sensible, responds simply by saying (or asking), "Really?"
Well, ever since that commercial came out, I became much more aware of people's gross infatuation with their technology and as funny as some people may find that commercial, it never had that effect on me. In fact, I take that commercial quite seriously because I'm surrounded by those kind of people on a daily basis. The people who continue to look down at their handheld when the subway or elevator doors open, and proceed to walk directly into persons not two feet in front of them. They're usually the same people who walk out into traffic with their heads down and their thumbs fumbling, but somehow never seem to get hit, no matter how badly I wish they would. I'm not saying I want them to be killed or crippled, but I just wish once, the cab drivers horn would malfunction, his foot would accidentally slip off the break pedal, and the daft pedestrian texting in traffic would catch a hard bumper to the soft meat of their upper thigh. Ideally, the device that caused their injury would be destroyed in the process as well.
Now maybe this sounds malicious but I'm not an evil or outright angry person, I swear. I just think that the world we live in has become more about what's at you're fingertips, and less about what's right in front of you. This access to information and/or internet anytime anywhere, is not meant to be taken literally. Case and point, you should not be accessing either when you're in the middle of traffic (as a pedestrian or driver). You should also have the sense to put the phone down for a moment when you're exiting or entering any platforms, rooms, or environments in general, and you should have the courtesy to holster the device when a real person is standing or sitting in front of you, requesting or granting an audience.
It's very frustrating for a person like me to be engaged in a conversation with someone, only to have them break eye-contact and glance down at their phone or computer in the middle of a sentence. Of course they do it in the middle of one of my sentences, as they would never break their own train of thought, or interrupt themselves. Instead, they'd rather get their feelings out on the subject matter, and then blatantly disregard mine by seeming disinterested, or genuinely feeling that the text message or IM that has just popped up on their device, is more important than what I have to say.
My boss does it. My co-workers do it. My girlfriend has done it, as have all my friends at some point. So have I. I'm not beyond the capacity to be rude, even if I don't intend to be. Most of the time, I give myself and other people the benefit of the doubt, and I don't think I or they are intentionally trying to be disrespectful. A few select people I have noticed though, are. One in particular, who will remain anonymous for both our sake's, does this to me on practically a daily basis. It's gotten to the point where I know it's going to happen, so I try to keep my sentences as succinct and packed full of information as possible, because I know I am always one pause or stutter away from losing them.
It's also become a health problem for me. I can feel my blood pressure rise to seriously unhealthy levels. The second they look away from me to focus on whatever is on that screen in front of them (be it a newspaper article, a bill, a fantasy football score, a wikipedia page, a Words With Friends game, an IM from a friend, or anything else that takes priority over the flesh and blood in front of them that's stupid enough to think that they should take precedence over the machine), I lose it. There's nothing like feeling you've been disrespected to your face. At least if I find out that someone has disrespected me behind my back, I think they had the wherewithal and respect (to a certain degree), not to do it to my face. But to do it so blatantly and consistently is practically a declaration of war in my eyes, and I'll never understand or accept it.
So keep this in mind next time your phone or computer rings, buzzes, or 'alerts' you, when there is an actual human being engaged in some form of communication with you. It's rude to choose the machine over the man, and its humiliating to be on the other end of that wrong choice. Technology may have given us the world at our fingertips, but it didn't give us the right to forget about common courtesy and respect. Put the phone down, and look people in the eye when you are speaking or listening to them. That simple step alone may noticeably change the communication and people skills that many of us (especially in my generation), are lacking today.
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