I said it. Television is HELPING something. Look at your common
sitcoms, Big Bang Theory, New Girl or whichever others, and you see that
people are encouraging face-to-face communication. It seems as though
the norm is to pick up the phone and call someone rather than text them,
go to their house instead of creeping on their facebook. I am now
seeing a retroactive shift in this real communication. Perhaps it's due
to the fact that no one really feels that close through just a text or
call anymore. We can thank our know-it-all parents and grandparents for
that, what with their, "In my day..." and "Why don't you just go over
there?"'s. I have personally seen an increase in people deciding to make
real effort in their time with people, which is encouraging, however, I
believe that there are some traits that we may have forgotten as a
society that makes this neighborly communication hilarious albeit
invasive. I'll give you a few examples from my life and living in my new
apartment in a college town:
1. My mailman: Now he
deserves a whole webpage, for he is a true gem. No we don't text or
call, but he always makes sure to keep the conversations super weird and
lovely when dropping off my cable bills. For instance, one time I was
sitting in the courtyard in a chair, reading my Hemingway, when this
gentlemen...let's call him Dave, decides to come up and ask with
feigned-tentative mannerisms, "Apartment 9?" to which I replied, "Yes,
that's me." He proceeded to hold the stack of papers out at arms length,
as if touching an alligator (and believe me, I did not smell bad, so
that was weird), saying, "It's a bill, don't hurt me!" and running away.
I was significantly confused. Or how about the other time in which he
stopped by to deliver a package and got so excited that I was really
there that he high-fived me, ran away, then forgot he needed a
signature. There are many more notable examples, however for the sake of
the argument, let's just conclude that coming into this newfound
communication is causing a bit of craziness with the adjustment.
2.
Friends: We actually hang out now! It's crazy to think of how many
times I was told to put away my cell phone in high school, and got
offended by it! OFFENDED! I would freak out for the mere fact that
someone told me to stop talking to my friends. Whole conversations
happened over text. Miscommunication was crazy. We hung out maybe once a
week at most, and when we did hang out, we were texting other people.
Somehow this wasn't satisfying though (maybe it's an accessibility
thing, who knows?), and now people are pushing towards actually hanging
out. I can find myself wondering, now of course that I'm used to human
interaction again, what was the appeal of hanging out with 2000 people
at once? I can hardly focus when I have two people asking me for
homework help! And let's not forget about the boundary issues. For
crying out loud, a simple knock is out the window, considering that
texting requires no warning, so why should your showing-up be any
different? I however, am the biggest perpetrator in this aspect. My
church is very tight-knit, and it's to the point that I almost get
offended if someone's door is locked, which I suppose might be linked to
the texting.
3. Professors: I think that this will be
the area that will be the hardest to overcome. In no aspect do I find a
teacher NOT intimidating. Nonetheless, I've learned that visiting their
office is a quicker and more fulfilling response than an email. They are
more apt to help you with that case and are willing to give you better
grades. We of course think their office hours are somewhat obligatory,
but in actuality, professors love them. They find joy in getting to know
the nerdy kids in their class. We think they might breathe fire on us.
It's a divide we'll conquer one day, but for now, anonymity is key.
Long
story short, thank you television, for inadvertently teaching us the
true colors of friendship (hope you get the reference).
No comments:
Post a Comment