Monday, May 14, 2012

A Strange Silence

I was teaching a workshop the other day and, shortly after I called a break, suddenly noticed a strange silence.

In the days when we wore animal hides and wrapped our feet in seaweed, breaks were sort of noisy. People would get coffee and chat. Not so in this case. As I scanned the room, I could see person after person checking their smart phones and sending text messages. Most of them did so for the majority of the break. All held a serious expression. There was sporadic conversation, but far less than in the old device-free days. They seemed to be connecting with everyone except the people in the room.

They were present but not really there.

3 comments:

bob said...

You have to wonder how we survived and built societies and how things where achieved without the constant expectation of connectivity and instant availability.....

There was not so long ago a seeming more productive world that did...I think that what has changed is that less people now have to make decisions....

CincyCat said...

Facebook waits for no man... LOL

I have to agree with bob's assessment. With the advent of mobile devices, you are expected to be available at all times - especially to your boss - regardless of whatever else it is you happen to be doing at the time.

This includes when you are attending training seminars (that your boss probably signed you up for), as well as when you are supposed to be relaxing on vacation and are sipping a beverage with an umbrella while lying on a beach.

Michael Wade said...

I like Charles de Gaulle's practice when he was president of France of spending weekends at a country home that only had a phone at the guardhouse. His staff knew that if they called him, he would have to make the long walk out to the house.

Michael