These examples do not stand alone. (In fact, being “alone” appears to frighten people more than ever.) The whole world seems fixated on keeping in touch with everyone other than those who are with them. Yesterday I observed a couple seated at a table at a pleasant outdoor café, perhaps to enjoy an early dinner together. It could have been a time for hand-holding or sharing the details of one another’s day. Instead, both were staring into their own latest-technology iPhone, their minds elsewhere rather than on each other. I find this trend disturbing, but my findings, in general, are becoming obsolete.
I wonder, nevertheless, what gave rise to this avid obsession to keep in touch with those out of sight, and to hungrily share information with “friends” in cyberspace. How can it be possible to rail against “invasion of privacy” when we willingly share the most personal details with people we have not bothered to see in years? Can we complain about others listening in on our private conversations when they take place in public, loud enough for even the uninterested to hear?
I keep wondering if this mania is just a temporary technological fascination that will fade from boredom over time. Or will our telecommunication devices get more and more sophisticated, becoming increasingly vital to our everyday “normal” existence.
In that case, I have the perfect cartoon waiting in my head. It shows a sonogram of a fetus in the womb, his delicate, tiny, unformed hand gripping something that looks suspiciously like a cell phone. As the baby’s cells divide further, the cell phone grows to its full birth size, as well. It is a human adaptation that has evolved to serve its purpose, like thumb and finger opposition.
Now if only I could draw!
©2012 Doris O'Brien for SeniorWomen.com
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