Back home. My mom, Petit Joel and I walked through Coburg and then enjoyed the Christmas Market. I just love this town. This is home, this is peace, this is my base that makes me happy. Of course I visited my favorite Bookstore and we spent way too much money on books (really? Can you ever?) which needless to say satisfied my nerdy book-loving-heart. We then decided to warm up at a café close to the market place to talk about books and so much more. (This desperate need to catch up in person! No internet, no phone, no nothing!)
While we drank our lattes, Petit Joel read his new book and I observed three people at a table close by who were just annoying from the start. They did not talk to each other really, but rather focused on their phones and mentioned “Andy, who updated his profile just now“; or “Look at Ricky, who was so wasted last night that he did not even remembered what he ate and snorted chips through his nose“. For some reason or another, I don’t have any intentions to meet those two people mentioned in this conversation and even less after the arguments that followed while all three kept looking at their phones nonstop but then again, I could not stop listening because it was so loud and obnoxious. Their voices took over the café. Human interactions. These two simple words can be interpreted in so many ways. This makes me seems so old, but I do remember a time when I used to sit with my friends at a café and all we did was indeed talk to each other. There were no cell phones. Or they were so big, that you kept them safely in your purse to not hurt anybody and literally only used them to call your parents in case of emergency to be picked up after a party that lasted a big longer than 11pm. Yeah, kids of the 90s, but in hindsight, it was a good time.
Technology evolved, changed and now we all sit at a table with our friends taking out our phones to place it nicely in front or next to them first thing because, hey, you never know if someone calls or texts. We can access and share anything anytime and take pictures of our food before we even tasted it. And before we start our supper, we write a quick email to our boss to tell him that the project will be done tomorrow afternoon. He then calls to confirm or to tell us he wants the project to be done tomorrow morning and you stress about it and answer your coworker to tell him all about it. Throughout this interaction, the friend you actually had gone out to dinner with sits next to you and stares at you (this is usually me) and wonders what the hell is going on or if I AM is in the wrong picture. For them I was clearly invisible.
There were no cellphones in school. Kids talked to each other. No texting throughout class. No Sugar-Crush playing throughout your classmates oral presentation. You just listened (or slept) because there were no distractions. My friends and I looked at each other while talking to each other because this is what you do, no? We looked at each others eyes when we spoke to each other. We listened, we watched what kind of body language people had, their mannerism and most importantly, you could tell if the smile was real or just fake. Believe it or not, I could tell if people were less fake. They could not hide it too well behind a Twitter/Facebook-App. It also makes me think at what point I will ever purchase a phone for Petit Joel? At what point is it too early or too late in this generations since they are however so advanced these days.
I do agree that the positives of technology outweigh the negative by far. Living in a different country, I can connect with my parents, family and friends all over the world by just pressing one button. We can see each other “physically” on Skype or FaceTime and connect with them pretty much instantly. I remember when I left Germany in 1999 and I tried to connect with my family back home; the only communication tool we had was to send an email or a letter. To set boundaries, these days it is pretty difficult I reckon and for some people it is indeed too hard to put the phone away and enjoy a nice lunch or supper while talking to the person(s) who they are with.
I ask myself sometimes how it all will be in ten to fifteen years. Studying and being fascinated about languages, I wonder how we will communicate with each other. Will we even still physically interact by talking to each other? Maybe there will be an app or where does it all leave us as a human race? Will our “feeling” change as well by being invisible? I most certainly hope not. Is there anything we can do? Balancing? It is kind of sweet to enjoy a moment by just being present. Without gadgets. Just this moment without waiting for “like it” clicks for your birthday or whatnot because in the end, who the hell cares. It is my moment. MY moment to enjoy.
