I am astounded by how people have become absorbed in their technological toys. On the bus the other day, I was amazed that a female passenger was even reading a book made of paper. I know I am old-fashioned but I still enjoy the smell and texture of a book in my hands.
The people who text their friends or spy their texts every few minutes may think they are being social. My perception is that people who choose texts over personal connections are actually being anti-social. Texting is not evil in itself; however, it can become an addiction like everything else.
I live in a condo that has a weight room. I go to the weight room often. It is not unusual for me to see someone lift weights for two minutes, check his texts for three minutes, then continue the pattern. There are also those who multi-task when they ride the exercise bike and check texts at the same time.
I have heard of people having their hands firmly wrapped around their smartphones as they go to the washroom.
Is this what life has come to? Being without communication for five minutes is sending people into fits of anxiety? They cannot even carry out daily routines without getting sick with worry that no one is talking to them?
I foresee a sad-looking future. I foresee people having sex while one hand is poised above their thrusting partner, their phones emitting messages from someone else. It would be like an electronic ménage-a-trois. Maybe they’ll get off faster.
Or fast-paced hockey players cruising down the ice, one hand on their sticks and one on their phone. It may even become named as a brand new sport, the national game of both Canada and Japan. Perhaps even entered as a contest at the Olympics.
Don’t laugh. These are predictions that I will see in my lifetime. I’m good for at least another 20 years.
Which kind of makes me wish sometimes for a zombie apocalypse. To see all the electronics left behind as people flee to the forests.
And maybe actually see the trees.
Randy Coates 