Anti-Social Is The New Social

I walked into my favorite Indian restaurant on Saturday evening to pick a meal up to take home. It wasn’t quite ready when I got there and for a moment I toyed with going out to my car and grabbing my phone so I could check e-mails or play Words, but I resisted the urge. As I sat down by the door four guys in their late twenties came in looking for a table. The waitress greeted them, gave them all a menu and seated them at the table next to me. All four of them immediately dropped their menus on the table and pulled their phones out and started either texting or e-mailing whilst talking to one another. Be Somewhere Else Now John Kabat-Zin in his seminal book implored us to ‘Be Here Now’, but that message is for the most part is falling on deaf ears. For a good five minutes other than an occasional look up there was barely any eye contact made between them. Not one of them put their phones down for more than a few seconds before picking it up again and starting to type feverishly. I watched the scene somewhat bemused, it seemed like they all needed to be somewhere, anywhere, rather than where they were. But I suspect that wasn’t true. I suspect that if they were in another restaurant with another group of people they’d be texting the people they were with now. I’m pretty sure many people of my generation and older would think this type of behavior is rude and anti-social, but I disagree. Now if 3 of the guys had walked in with an elderly lady and they behav...
Source: Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : - Category: Life Coaches Authors: Tags: Life Coaching Source Type: blogs