I am sure it has been written about before, but now I notice more than ever how disconnected people are becoming from the real world around them.  What do I mean?  Go to a local coffee shop, restaurant, bar, or even busy shopping mall and look around.  Look at all the people on cell phones, smart phones, blackberries, and laptops.  We went out to eat at a Corner Bakery and Tiffany and I observed a young man with a laptop computer.  Across from him was, ahem, a very attractive young woman.  I don’t know about you, but if I was sitting across from that, the last thing I would do is be staring at a screen.  But, the whole time we were there, he was just surfing away.  I can only hope it was his sister, but I kinda doubt it.

Another time was just this past weekend.  We went up to Gurnee Mills.  I passed a man diddling with his iPhone before we went into a store.  About 40 minutes later, after we left the store, he was still there.  You are in a mall, you can surf at home.

Another odd thing I see is teenagers walking down the street talking or texting on their phones and not talking to the people right next to them.  You went to the effort to go walking with these people, but why did you bother?

I don’t know about you, but when I go out, I go out to do things I can’t do at home.  I guess I am old fashioned.  It is wonderful we can all be connected, all the time, but what are we giving up?  I know you can convey so much more information with body language than with 1,000 lines of text messages.  I only need to give a glance to Tiffany and she will know what I am thinking, even without words.  Maybe I am just crotchety,  but I know I am seeing it more and more.  It is also beyond the “gee wiz” this is cool or “look at what I can do” aspect of technology.  You can tell people have fully integrated these tools into their lives.  I guess as I get older, I appreciate human interaction more.  Hopefully the younger generation will as well, and not get lost looking at minute screens.