Rudeness & technology

Are we becoming a less polite society? Are we more inconsiderate? Do we ignore other people & their needs. Does technology actually pollute our environment? I could go on.

The pinpricks of constant irritation with other peoples' use of technology in public really does get to me. Mobile phones can be set to silent, but my guess is that few people do that. So we are subject to a constant background of annoying ringtones & texting tones. Then there is the common assumption that the person at the other end of the phone has a hearing impediment. Or do people really think that the public is interested in the minutii of their boring lives? No one seems to consider not making the call or letting it go to voicemail and responding at a more appropriate time.

I am a volunteer usher in a local theatre. People are generally quite good during performances, we have a select class of audience in Oxford. But I am amazed just how many are locked into their phones before, during intervals & immediately after. The bright phone lights can be just as disturbing as the sounds. There seems to be an unhealthy compulsion to be connected to the world but not to actual people. Most people go with someone else, but really sometimes one wonders why.

The same is true in restaurants. Surely the whole point of enjoying a meal out is to have a conversation with your companion & share good food? Yet, how many times do people say -"Oh I must take this". Really? Can't it wait? Aren't you saying, in effect, "this person on my phone is much more important than you - my companion".

Most of the above & more apply to tablets & laptops. I can understand that people work on trains, but  keyboard tapping can be quite irritating. A train or a bus isn't an office. It isn't your own personal space. Are people being paid to work while they commute? I don't think so. They are just driven and overworked. Or, too incompetent to get their work done in office hours.

Bottom line - In my book it's an addiction & a very rude & inconsiderate one at that. And I haven't even started on people who play games & watch films etc.

Bring back the days when we weren't instantly accessible to anyone. When we didn't work or communicate every moment of our waking day. When we were able to cope with being alone & incommunicado. When we had work time, play time, meal times & time to ourselves. When we didn't feel the need to be constantly occupied.

I fear it's too late. We are doomed to every increasing technology. Soon we won't need the phone or the computer. It will be implanted subcutaneously & we will all be bionic machines.

I wonder if we need to disconnect to really connect.