I have lately observed the amount of communication that seems to be going on these days by way of cell phones and Blackberry type devices. What I've observed is this – there is a lot of it.
In a quick flash back, imagine the house of your childhood. There was, in all likelihood, one phone. It was black with a curly cord, perched on a telephone stand in the hallway and reserved for important communications. Sundays when the rates were cheaper long distance calls were made. The entire family sat next to the phone awaiting their turn. Swift sentences were used while someone watched the clock intently to make sure no one ran over the allotted time.
An innovation called 'the extension' then made its way into our homes. Mom didn't have to run into the hallway to get the phone, wiping her wet hands on a towel. She could now take calls while continuing to cook our dinners on the wall phone in the kitchen. Some of my luckier friends had an extension in their bedroom, a very pretty, sleek little phone in pink called “the Princess Phone”. A little light came on so you could dial, secretly, in the dark. Phoning continued to be limited to a certain amount of time in the evening and still reserved for important stuff. Calling your friend to see what they were wearing to school the next day didn't fall into that category.
Long distance operators went the way of the dinosaur, rates went down and phoning became more common. Enter the answering machine. Instead of counting the rings, “One, five, thirteen....., they must be out.” you would hear the garbled voice of your friend, “You've reached 555-1212. We are not home. At the sound of the beep please leave your name, number, and the reason you called and we will phone you back.” After giggling and feeling a bit self-conscious you may or may not have left a message. Sometimes you just hung up and your friend never knew you called.
The answering machine gave way to voice mail. Suddenly every business you called had voice mail. Instead of a friendly voice on the other end of the phone you heard something like this. “Thank you for calling Igor's Electronics. This is Stephanie, your intelligent, automated voice message system. If you know the extension of the person you wish to speak with, dial it now. To speak to an operator stay on the line and listen to this really cheesy music for about 30 minutes.” It never actually said that about the cheesy music but we quickly learned that's what would happen. By the time 'Stephanie' announced herself, we were usually beginning to fume. Suddenly we couldn't talk to anyone who was human. We were unsure whether or not our messages ever got through. We didn't get off the phone smiling and assured that anyone would get back to us.
Cell phones and Blackberry-type devices are the new wave of our society. Everyone has them and seems to be attached to them. It's amazing to me what is so urgent and all powerful that it has to be discussed while walking down the aisle of a grocery store. The phone chatterers have abandoned all manners and all efforts to effectively communicate in person because they are busy on their phones. Food is ordered in a restaurant, groceries are tallied at checkout lines, banking is done all the while on the phone. Don't you think the person who is serving us, checking our groceries and taking our deposits deserves recognition for actually standing in front of us, in the flesh, helping us?
This brings us to texting. People text each other to describe every little detail of their day. People can't socialize with the friends in front of them because they are texting friends who aren't in front of them. Teens sit in groups, fingers flying over keys, sending abbreviated messages like, “wazup”, “c u 2nite”, “skewl so not kewl” and so on. Teenagers have always wanted to be different, that part I get. What I object to is the constant texting and talking on the phone while doing something else. I know how I would feel if I was with a friend who was constantly texting and talking on the phone - unimportant, a bit hurt and just a little angry.
It's not just teens. Adults are just as guilty. Couples, out to dinner, talk on their respective cell phones. People in business meetings are constantly looking down, checking for, sending and receiving messages. Technology is good. Businesses can run more efficiently. Being able to keep in touch with friends and family instantly and whenever you need to is good. But, I wonder, isn't experiencing the moment you are in more vital and important than constantly checking to see what, if anything, you might be missing?
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