Goodbye, Hello
September 24th, 2008
Goodbye, hello. Goodbye, how are you. Goodbye, goodbye. In fact, it is perhaps the end of polite, small talk and social interaction as we know it. It is goodbye to conversation and hello to the iPod, the MP3 player, and anything else that will give us an excuse not to look at each other.
As if natural shyness were not enough of an obstacle to overcome when interacting with a passerby, it is now virtually impossible to get another human being to acknowledge your existence in public. Whether it be a college campus--the lion's den technological invasion--or a city sidewalk, things are getting out of control, quickly. Not even mentioning our growing obsession with a vowel-prefixed commercial industry ("No 'i', no buy!" as one of my friends comically chanted to me in Best Buy the other day), we have a serious problem that we need to talk about.
I was a sophomore in college when I began to notice it. Whether walking to or from class, casually strolling the campus, or merely having fun outside, my radiantly joyful hellos, good mornings, and how-are-you's began to go unnoticed, unreciprocated, and unappreciated. My presence and company were now competing for attention in social warfare against the iPod, MP3 player, and cell phone--and I was losing!
We have long joked about the ubiquitous nature of the cell phone and how everyone not only has one but talks on it constantly. It may now seriously be time, however, to put all jokes aside and examine this issue for what it is becoming: a social disorder.
The great philosopher Aristotle taught us, as was later echoed by the Stoics, that Man is by nature a social creature. But Aristotle didn't have an iPod, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Palm Pilot. My bet would be that if he had he might have been whistling a different tune.
Regardless of where I went on campus, in the community, or around the country, it was the same--everywhere. No longer was I friendly chatting with the person behind me as I waited in line to check out; nope, they were listening to their iPod. No longer was I personally connecting with those I passed by on the street, trying to extend that cordial hospitality that we Midwesterners are known and praised for; nope, they were on their phone. No longer was I exploring the life story of the lady next to me in the airport as I waited for my flight; she was using her BlackBerry--and probably buying shares of Sony MP3 stock in the Asian Markets!
When my eyes were open to this phenomenon of goodbye, hello, I truly began to see how the concept had inundated every aspect of our lives. It was not just in the schools, with young adults, or with traveling businesspeople. It was now with our children.
As I drove downtown this summer, I was soon stuck in traffic. To my left was a minivan with a nice looking family--mother, father, and three children. As I looked at the family, I sighed in disappointment, for they had been swept by the phenomena. On the back of each seat in the van was a mini-television. All three children sat, with wireless headphones, watching Veggie Tales. One was also playing a portable gaming device. They were not chatting with each other, laughing or arguing with each other, or talking about what they wanted to do first when they got to the hotel. They were not developing and honing the social skills that so many lack nowadays; no, they were watching TV. My gut reaction was pity--they don't know what they're missing. As an only child myself, it would have been wonderful to have a sibling in the car to converse with on those long road trips.
Traveling, though, proved to be a great time for me to talk with my parents about life's happenings or simply laugh and joke around. I looked up at the parents in the van. Both of them were on their cell phones! At that point I asked myself to whose betterment it was to have those TVs in the car. I already knew the answer to that question.
Are we really willing to let go of the social interaction and conversations we share with our friends, family, and fellow members of society simply to listen to another song, watch another movie, or read another email? I think we've already answered that question. Goodbye, hello.
Goodbye, Hello was written by PAI Staff © PAI 2008.