Can anybody hear me?
Before moving to Boulder I lived in Manhattan for three years. During that time I noticed a paradigm shift in how people interact with strangers.
White earbuds.
Every other rider on the subway had them, most people walking on the street had a pair and it didn’t seem strange. Mimi would sometimes put them in even though she wasn’t listening to anything, because that way she could pretend she didn’t hear the horrifically vulgar things strange men would say to her on the streets.
Since the iPod, and now the iPhone have taken hold, we have an easy out when presented with the possibility of interacting with strangers, and it sucks. The whole reason I’m writing this is because I went to the gym today and saw something odd. I was sitting in the hot tub, which is pretty large, (a 14’ square). As I entered tub I nodded to the two guys who were in there already. They nodded back and that was all the interaction any of us needed. I relaxed a bit and enjoyed the silence, until a 21-ish girl approached the tub. She took the obligatory little shower next to the pool and then came over to get in, only she did something I’ve never seen anyone do in a gym hot tub. She sat down in the water and turned to her tower behind her, where she got her iPod nano and connected some headphones to it. All the dudes in the tub (including me) looked at her like, “wtf?” as she put them in.
With eyes closed and headphones on, she totally zoned out. It was her magic invisibility cloak.
I can’t knock what she did, because I listen to music during my whole workout and it makes a huge difference in terms of overall experience. And it’s not like I had something urgent to talk to her about. I just disliked the fact that she was there physically but totally withdrawn, just like all of those hosers on the subway.
It’s a generalized problem. I don’t get phone calls anymore, I get text messages. I don’t have conversations with strangers my own age nearly as often as I strike up a chat with an older person. I go to a dinner with my friends and without fail, everyone will have their iPhone out at some point during the meal.
I’m not above it, and I live in a glass house so throwing stones is not advised. My concern is merely for the next generation. Will people even know how to approach strangers and create a conversation? Is that going to become a lost art?
Worst of all, I can’t even envision a way to fix the problem. We’re simply doomed to converse by writing short notes back and forth to each other while becoming more and more tethered to our computers and smart phones.
If you have any thoughts on the matter, just text me. :)
