Is face to face conversation become marginalized?
Last winter I walked through a student union at a college in Georgia. The setting was quiet like a morgue. Students hunched over smart phones or laptops. Nobody talked to each other. Above them on a wall, a mural depicted a turn-of-the century scene. The image depicted kids playing together in a park while adults chatted. The juxtaposition of joy on the mural and blandness in the room startled me.
I recently flew to and from Utah. Only one fellow passenger engaged me with conversation. Everybody else immersed themselves in electronic distractions.
Or have people rather than gadgets become distractions?
Yesterday, while I walked on a quiet road, a woman approached from the opposite direction. Earplugs and wires connected to her head. I said hello. She walked by in silence.
Later an older woman walked by. We smiled at each other and offered greetings. Older folks are quicker to engage in conversations. Maybe it's because they're not addicted to the narcotic called technology.
Today I photographed a shuttered video rental store. The parent company had gone bankrupt. Video rentals stores required us to interact with a clerk behind a register. Sometimes we'd chat with acquaintances in the aisles. Most of those stores are gone. Nowadays people download movies without human interaction.
I wonder if people were happier and more engaging before technology became pervasive.
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