At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, I fear that our society is losing the “human touch.” We text, email, leave voicemails, speak to computerized voices, conduct our banking without ever seeing a teller and even checkout our own groceries without ever seeing any signs of a cashier.
I was watching a spring training baseball game on television yesterday and the entire row, directly behind home plate and the catcher, was filled with people texting throughout the entire game. This bizarre behavior continued during the game, completely ignoring the fact that their hometown pitcher had allowed no runs, only one hit and their home team was scoring, almost at will. These fans were oblivious to the game for most of the 9 innings, as well as the stunningly beautiful Florida sunshine that most of us in the northern states can only dream of in late March.
On my latest business trip, after boarding my plane, (which was an adventure in itself,) I looked up the aisle, from the back of the aircraft, where I was seated and observed nearly every passenger either on his or her cell phone or placing their headphones on to watch a movie on their personal technological device. The only people talking to each other was a rather loud and obnoxious family of 6, trying to convince two harried business travelers to switch seats so they could all sit together. (The attempt proved fruitless for the family and they remained the only people talking during the 4 hour flight.)
I could continue on with many more examples, but it is becoming more and more obvious every day that we are forsaking human contact for the marvels and solitude of rapidly advancing technology. Day by day we spend less time interacting with “real” human beings and devote our time texting, computing or talking to “Siri.” Are we losing the human touch?
I attended a Good Friday church service yesterday and seated two rows in front of me were three teen-aged girls around the ages of 14 or 15. Seated to their immediate right were two adults whom I assumed to be their parents, although they certainly did not act as such. The girls obviously did not want to be at the service, and, armed with their trusty cell phones, kept texting during the service, as well as shoving each other in response to some of the messages they received, as well as giggling on occasion. The two “adults” seated to their right, who did turn out to be their parents, ignored their increasingly distracting behavior….for about an hour.
As the service was nearing an end and at a portion of the liturgy where there is considerable kneeling and standing, the youngest of the three young ladies lost control of her beloved cell phone and watched helplessly as it flew forward to the next pew, crashing loudly against it, then rattling rapidly underneath the pew to the row directly in front of the trio of girls. An obviously angry elderly woman retrieved the cell phone, turned around with a look of disgust and handed the phone to the woman who I assumed was masquerading as the teenager’s mother. This woman quickly placed the visibly damaged cell phone into her purse. The remaining two girls could not stop giggling. The offending teenager asked for the return of her phone, a request that was denied. All I could think of was that the “hand of God” took control of the offending cell phone and restored proper respect to one of the holiest days of the year. I am confident I was not the only parishioner who felt that way.
I bring this example up, not to ridicule the three teenagers or their “hands-off” guardians, but rather to bring attention to how far our lack of human interaction has “advanced” in the past few years. We have now “progressed” to such a degree, that even the house of the Lord, on the most solemn day of the liturgical year, is not immune from the “marvels” of technology. The cell phone was being worshipped that afternoon, not Jesus. And we were in His house!
We are risking becoming a society where social skills are becoming extinct. “Please” and “Thank you” are never heard at retail establishments anymore and I know people who have gone days and in a few cases, weeks, without ever having to speak to another human being. We are building fortresses of our own design, with security systems to protect us; arming ourselves with weapons and conducting business online so we can avoid those pesky human beings.
In the business world, where I serve as a corporate trainer, I have not conducted a human skills or management program in over 5 years. In those 5 years, I have trained thousands of people how to operate their computers or use their new business system. All but two of those programs have taken place either virtually or online, minimizing human interaction even more. Is this really where we want to go? Is this what we want to become?
I hope the answer is “no” I pray that we want to become better at interacting with each other, not worse. I hope that we care enough about our fellow travelers on this planet we call home to talk to them, face to face, at least on a somewhat regular basis. I pray that I am wrong, an old man, longing for the “old days” where meetings were conducted in a room where everyone was physically present and the only distraction was someone telling us that lunch had arrived. I did not think about it at the time, but those meetings are now pleasant memories….and a thing of the past. Who would have thought that?
Are we losing the “Human Touch?” I believe we are and I also believe that if we do not discover it soon, that we will run the risk of losing our very human nature. And that would be a loss of epic proportions.