A heartfelt apology via text message is an oxymoron.
Are we really so caught up in technology that we have lost all desire for human contact? All important conversations are now by text, by email, by instant message. No one comes to talk to you face to face; no one even picks up the phone.
All conversations are misconstrued, all taken out of context because they miss an important element of human nature. They lack passion. They lack understanding and emotion. The simple rise and fall of the human voice. The tone.
The cool hush when someone is talking about someone or something they care about deeply. The rise at the end of a punctuated statement when there is anger, when there is disdain or resentment.
People sit next to each other, sit across a room and send a text message. They claim privacy. What happened to the intimacy of a whisper? The cool breathe of someone else against your ear, the thrill of knowing people are all around you yet that conversation belongs only to you?
I know couples whose entire marital arguments happen entirely through this method. Are we that lack-luster in passion that we no longer need human contact? Are we becoming that robotic? Are we becoming what we feared?
I often hear of people complain that when they are in need for service, when they need something, albeit a question from a store, they call in and get frustrated when they get an automated system in response. THEY are becoming an automated system in their own lives and don't even realize the irony.
I long for human contact. I call a certain friend, no answer. I get a text later on asking if I called. YES! I did. I "called", on the phone. Generally to TALK. Had I wanted to shoot a brief message designed for texting I would have done so, but no I called, I had needed or wanted conversation. Witty banter, not mindless and thoughtless text speak sent in 140 character increments.
I miss having long conversations with friends. Getting to know someone by staying up all night on the phone, talking for hours about nothing. Hearing laughter, not wondering about the sincerity of a lingering "LOL"
I miss having to argue with someone and hearing the anger or frustration in their voice. Not that I am looking to argue, but if you are going to do it, make me know what, and why, and how things make you feel. Let me know you are passionate. That you feel in general.
I see the decline in civilization approaching. And in the end, I fear we are all turning into robots.
Press 1.
Are we really so caught up in technology that we have lost all desire for human contact? All important conversations are now by text, by email, by instant message. No one comes to talk to you face to face; no one even picks up the phone.
All conversations are misconstrued, all taken out of context because they miss an important element of human nature. They lack passion. They lack understanding and emotion. The simple rise and fall of the human voice. The tone.
The cool hush when someone is talking about someone or something they care about deeply. The rise at the end of a punctuated statement when there is anger, when there is disdain or resentment.
People sit next to each other, sit across a room and send a text message. They claim privacy. What happened to the intimacy of a whisper? The cool breathe of someone else against your ear, the thrill of knowing people are all around you yet that conversation belongs only to you?
I know couples whose entire marital arguments happen entirely through this method. Are we that lack-luster in passion that we no longer need human contact? Are we becoming that robotic? Are we becoming what we feared?
I often hear of people complain that when they are in need for service, when they need something, albeit a question from a store, they call in and get frustrated when they get an automated system in response. THEY are becoming an automated system in their own lives and don't even realize the irony.
I long for human contact. I call a certain friend, no answer. I get a text later on asking if I called. YES! I did. I "called", on the phone. Generally to TALK. Had I wanted to shoot a brief message designed for texting I would have done so, but no I called, I had needed or wanted conversation. Witty banter, not mindless and thoughtless text speak sent in 140 character increments.
I miss having long conversations with friends. Getting to know someone by staying up all night on the phone, talking for hours about nothing. Hearing laughter, not wondering about the sincerity of a lingering "LOL"
I miss having to argue with someone and hearing the anger or frustration in their voice. Not that I am looking to argue, but if you are going to do it, make me know what, and why, and how things make you feel. Let me know you are passionate. That you feel in general.
I see the decline in civilization approaching. And in the end, I fear we are all turning into robots.
Press 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment