The Lost Art of Conversation

It’s summer time and that familiar dulcet, low hum can be heard all over London. No, it isn’t the sound of a bumblebee, gracefully floating by, making the skyline look that little bit more interesting. It’s the sound of millions of BlackBerry’s receiving millions of texts and millions of Facebook messages and millions of Twitter updates. It seems life as we know it will never be the same again.

‘Sorry I’m going to have to take this, excuse me a minute.’

As I sit staring into the dregs of my pint of cider and black in a pub off Brick Lane, I contemplate the fact that the man sitting across from me, my date for tonight, is not wearing a suit, he does not carry a briefcase and he is not mid-40s and balding. He is, in fact, 23, wears skinny jeans and plays the guitar. So what could possibly be that important that he had to cut short my anecdote about what had happened on a bendy bus the night before (perhaps a tale for another time) to take this call?

I mean, fair enough, he had just arrived back in London, probably wanted to check in with people, that kind of thing. This I can handle. So I continue with my story only to once again jump halfway out of my seat as the said nuisance of a BlackBerry noisily vibrates its way across the table.

This is a device that will not be ignored; seemingly nobody puts a BlackBerry in the corner. Only this time the BlackBerry informs of a new Facebook message. I try to continue with my story but to a somewhat distracted audience.

‘Ha ha ha.’

*Glances up distractedly*

‘Erm, is something funny?’

‘Oh sorry, yeah, it’s not you, just got a Facebook message off someone.’

Right, ok then. I abruptly make a swift move for the bar. When I return I am greeted with the top of my date’s head, his eyes firmly fixed upon the shiny, black beetle-like pest in his hand. His fingers work like lightening on the plastic keys as though writing an essay at 4am on deadline day.

‘Ahem…’

‘Oh, just BBM-ing, one second’

Taking this as the final straw I reach over for my bag and head for the door. Needless to say he did not flinch.

Now I understand that I am either very uninteresting, he was inadequate at socialising face-to-face or the technology is to blame. I’m going with the technology on this one. This is a plea to ditch your BlackBerry for the day and go out and enjoy being un-contactable. Go on. You just might like it.

Image by liewcf courtesy of Flickr