An Observation

Last week 2 of my friends and I, all seniors, went to Crispers for lunch...excellent home made soups, salads, etc.  As is our way and our generation's way, we yakked all the way through lunch and for almost 2 hours after lunch.  It was lovely.

When we arrived at the restaurant, 2 young men came in about the same time.  I noticed they both carried their cell phones in hand, ordered their food, and walked away looking at those cell phones.  I'd occasionally look across to their table and each and ever time, both young men were in their own little worlds...on their cell phones.  I actually never heard them say 2 words to each other.  This continued until they left, each looking down at their cell phones as they walked out.

Can anyone besides me see that this is one of the problems with our society?  People seem to be holding themselves separate from others, even in a group, preferring to associate with an inanimate object rather than the human beings right there with them.  This has got to create loners or at least people who are incapable of interacting with others face to face.

This kind of thing is not uncommon these days.  We've all seen it happening, maybe even done it ourselves (not me, of course).  Sure, our society has many problems which need to be assessed and dealt with if we want to behave as a community but cell phone dependence has definitely caused a rift in personal interaction.

Something else I notice with groups of people on their cell phones is that they don't look happy.  They look solemn.  My little yakky group of 3 last week laughed a lot while we talked with each other.

Good conversation, laughter, exchange of ideas and stories, are an integral part of bonding.  Just an observation!