Monday, August 20, 2007

There is no "alone" anymore

I got the chance to head out for a run this afternoon (in a blinding wind and rain storm none-the-less! Love England in August!) and as I head down the high street, it blew my mind how every person I passed was either talking or texting on a mobile. Every person. There was an older woman of about 70 leaving her house, obviously reading something on her mobile screen. There was a pregnant woman strolling along chatting away on her mobile as she drank a Coke. Then I ran by the bus stop where about 10-12 people stood and sat, waiting for their bus. All of them, the whole time texting as I passed through them.

Having a mobile gives us instant access. In someways, that's good. We have the chance to summon help if we need it, we can call a friend to tell them we are thinking of them, we can text our significant other to tell them we'll be late home. But on the other hand, it strikes me that people now are almost afraid of not having the phone with them. Afraid of not having a connection with someone, anyone, at anytime. They can not walk or wait without feeling the need to talk to somebody, be it by text or voice. We have become dependant on contact. We can not be out of the loop. We can not be by ourselves. That scares us.
People are never alone anymore. We can not deal with being alone.

4 comments:

ckweirath said...

It is odd how attached people are to their cell phones and/or blackberries. I was running the other day and saw a guy running while on his cell phone. Really? Is that necessary? You can't call them back?

Kelly said...

And I always thought that working out was the last place that you could be truly alone.

I guess that's not the case with this guy and also with the people at the Y that try to sneak on the cell phone while on the eliptical machine. (It's against the rules).

I mean, who wants to hear you huffing and puffing anyway?

Diane said...

Plus, sweat is bad enough in your ipod ear phones, I can't imagein inyour phone. I get scared driving when I see how many people are talking while theoretically driving

Dig said...

You're not talking about Curtis here, are you?!?!? ;)