His name was Francis...but everybody calls him "Psycho". If you called him "Francis"...he'd kill ya. That was ripped from one of my top 10 comedies of all time, Stripes. I was reminded of that scene recently when I felt some of my old pre-anger management mindset trying to creep in and set up house.
The reasons are not important, but it did lead me to give some thought to a few things. I make no bones about how fortunate I feel for being able to do what I love for a living. And despite some poor individuals' misguided attempts to throw wrenches into my happiness, things continue to only get better. (That really has to piss my haters off to no end. Hey...sucks to be you. Find a new hobby.)
One of the problems I have with all the tech gizmos and social media is that people hardly seem to talk face-to-face any more. Kids sit next to each other and text the person sitting less than five feet away! Some of the side effects have started to really rear their ugly heads. People ensconced at their keyboards now feel no compunction about spewing all manner of insults and nasty things about others who they DON'T EVEN KNOW. Anonymity has created false bravery as individuals motivated by anything from ignorance to simple jealousy can say whatever falls off their fingertips with impunity. I have talked about this before, but now I am seeing something disturbing, and I believe there is a connection.
I think our social disconnect is spilling into other avenues. Maybe it is just me, but I have seen more hit-and-run reports on the news than I can ever recall in my life. There is a disassociation happening. People are becoming so wrapped up in themselves that they can't see beyond their own wrists. People have just stopped caring about others. Oh sure, we give money to a cause or two...but when it comes to real interaction, we just don't care to try. It is much easier to LOL and OMG our way through life.
I know this is probably going to sound silly...but this weekend, CALL SOMEBODY. Make a live connection with another human. Maybe you have a person you have come to consider a friend, but have never spoken to except through IMs, tweets, and texting. Cross the line and take a step back to the social aspect of life without using "social media". Seriously...I think it has made us a much LESS social generation.
I think our social disconnect is spilling into other avenues. Maybe it is just me, but I have seen more hit-and-run reports on the news than I can ever recall in my life. There is a disassociation happening. People are becoming so wrapped up in themselves that they can't see beyond their own wrists. People have just stopped caring about others. Oh sure, we give money to a cause or two...but when it comes to real interaction, we just don't care to try. It is much easier to LOL and OMG our way through life.
I know this is probably going to sound silly...but this weekend, CALL SOMEBODY. Make a live connection with another human. Maybe you have a person you have come to consider a friend, but have never spoken to except through IMs, tweets, and texting. Cross the line and take a step back to the social aspect of life without using "social media". Seriously...I think it has made us a much LESS social generation.
I have told my kids that no invitation or serious communication should come from any other source than a face-to-face. If it doesn't, that person isn't who they need to give much credence to in their lives. (Dates and breakups should not be done by text! IF you want a video date, go get one but my Jacob, Jordan and Jenna are flesh and blood. You want a person? Ask like a person. And I hope that I have instilled the same expectations of self in them. Time will tell.)
ReplyDeleteI think I may put a twist on this and write a letter... and actual hand-written-in-ink-from-a-pen-on-stationary letter. I may go REALLY old school and do it in cursive, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm not anti-tech in terms of communication, but you are right about face to face. It may be heading the way of calligraphy if we aren't careful.
Cheers!
Most of the people I know think I'm a freak because I don't use Facebook, Twitter or any of those "social interactions". Facebook, in particular has caused a bunch of unnecessary drama in my life. For a while I was getting phone calls from other family members along this line; "I saw that "xyz" is getting married in December! Why were we not invited?" I contact "xyz" who happens to be my child and inquire. She laughs & says Tracy said it would be fun to get married in the snow, I said that would be cool, lol. She said Christmas is right around the corner! They both laughed...out loud. Now the entire family hates us. This is the most minor of our Facebook problems but it is a good example of the why I hate Facebook. My daughter bumped anyone related off of her stuff, & you know I think they all are glad. No one really hates us, at least not because of Facebook. I text & that's about it, oh & open my mouth & comment from time to time. I just don't get why anyone would want their lives out on the internet forever for the whole world to see, shoot my feelings about things change from second to second. I don't want to be called out about something I said last year. Face to face...you can deny that stuff later! Now that's good communicating. You have to watch out for that handwritten word too, you can always declare forgery though. When we bought our first house my husband was upset because I wasn't reading the doc.s, I told him if it didn't work out I planned on having myself declared incompetent, well temporarily. Keep that in mind Todd with your upcoming purchase.
ReplyDelete