Texting, Email, I. M, Cell Phone Conversations... The New Poster Child For Anti-Social Behavior

It's safe to say, and it's not an exaggeration, everywhere you look you can see people using their cell phone, Blackberry, i-phone, any handheld communication devices. I mean, automobiles, bikes, walking down the street, dinner tables, literally everywhere. Not surprising, it's actually condoned, you see commercials advocating, "use your handheld device in any situation." For instance there is this one commercial, where a woman in the delivery room is actually giving birth and she's taping the delivery herself with her I-Phone, or whatever the device is, with her husband in the room, crazy, huh!

It's gotten to the point that there are almost no real face to face communications. I actually heard a woman say that when she and her husband are home, and in different parts of the house, they will text each other. It's as if we can't stand to face each other anymore.

There's even a name for behavior associated with this phenomenon. It's called Nomophobia, it refers to a psychological syndrome where a person is afraid of being out of mobile phone contact. It is coined from a term "no-mobile-phone-phobia.

You texters, Instant messengers, emailers, and whatever other kind of handheld communication there is, let me give you a glimpse of what a face to face encounter would be like.

When you are face to face with someone, you see their true expressions, emotions, and all that it entails. For instance, when they LOL, you actually see them when they're Laughing Out Loud, meaning you can see, the crinkles around their eyes, their beautiful wide mouth, their body convulsing,when they are, "cracking up," the tears that comes when they, "laugh until they cry." When they OMG! You get to see what an Oh My Goodness really looks like, the physical expressions, such as raised hands to face, the wide eyed look of shock etc. When they IDK, you really believe them when the say "I Don't know," because of their facial expressions, and perhaps the shrugs of their shoulders. Oh yes, when they SMH, you actually see it when they are saying "I'm Shaking My Head," the head is actually moving from side to side. I get the feeling that physical expressions will be a lost art in the future. (I'm just saying).

Suffice it to say I don't know all of the abbreviations, but you can see where I'm going with this. Even though face to face communication seems to be out dated, there's no comparison, trust me, none of the new techno forms of communication can even hold a candle to it.

Let's establish a National Face to Face Communication Day. Ah, I know that I'm just blowing smoke. But just think, what a day like that would be. People actually having to look at each other as they talked. They'd have to pay attention, so as to get the real meaning of what is said. Say, can you imagine one of those conversations. When a person began to (LOL)"Laugh Out Loud," the one they are talking to looks at them in amazement wondering "what in the world are they doing."

Here's another one, suppose, during this conversation, one began to (SMH) "Shake My Head," not knowing what this means, the other thinks he's convulsing, panics, and calls 911.

Even though these are exaggerations I can foresee face to face communication becoming a real problem in the future. What bothers me is no one seems to see this as rude, I mean when you're talking to someone and they are focused on the device in their hands, and not you. I've actually learned a way around that, I just stop talking until I get their full attention. Now that only works if they're interested in what you're talking about, and I admit, I'm not always all that interesting.

So to all you techno addicts, look up from those handheld devices, and see what you're missing, no not Reality TV, real people, some even wanting to communicate with you face to face. Give it a chance you might enjoy it.