Put down that phone and talk

What good are words these days if nobody is listening? What good are words if no one speaks anymore? I find myself asking these question more and more these days.

In a world that is surrounded by technological wonders, I often think to myself what the real cost of it all is? I’m not talking about the monetary/ financial cost of material goods, or the need to purchase the newest trendy tech device. I’m talking about the cost in time, moments and memories.

On Tuesday I found myself taking my lunch at the coffee shop in Colby. It was after the lunch rush, so my meal was delivered quickly, and it was delicious. Ariel Oehmichen has done wonders at the Coffee Coop, and if you have not been there, I suggest you stop by and try their delicious foods, savory soups and tempting desserts.

Just make sure you have a gym membership, and that you’ll hit that treadmill afterwards.

Since it was later in the afternoon, it was very quiet in the coffee shop. There was myself, a young lady doing some sort of school work, and the employees, busy scrubbing and cleaning the place before they closed up the shop for the day.

I chatted with one of the employees since I recognized her as a student at Colby High, placed in my order and then sat down. Now, admittedly, I whipped out my smartphone and hit up social media. I mean, why not? It was just me there, and the young lady diligently getting her school work out of the way.

After my soup arrived I tucked into it with gusto. A few minutes later a group of teenagers sauntered in. Only one of them got a drink, the rest just plopped down in chairs and proceeded to pull out their smartphones. As I finished my soup, my sandwich came, and I put away my phone to concentrate on eating the food in front of me.

But as I did, I noticed how utterly still and quiet it was. It was so quiet, in fact, that I could hear the distant sounds of the shop’s employees cleaning pots and pans and dishes in the kitchen.

All three of the teens that came in had their faces glued to their phones. In fact, not once did they look up from scrolling on their phones or engage in conversation with each other.

It was all rather eerie, and it got me wondering if all this technology and social media is a good thing? Here we had three kids, presumably in high school. Were they talking about school? No. Talking about sports or extra-curriculars or plans for the weekend? Zip, zilch and nada.

Like I said, they did not say a word once they found a place to sit. Now, far be it for me to tell someone what to do with their free time, but I wonder what effect this constant social media barrage is doing to kids. I recently read a story on how the social media site TikTok has lead to teenage girls developing nervous tics from watching too many TikTok videos featuring people with Tourette’s syndrome. After months of study experts found most of their patients were avid users of the social media platform, particularly of videos featuring people with the syndrome.

It’s scary to think social media has this effect on people. It also scares me to think what the future will be if we don’t talk, listen or communicate with one another the “old fashioned way.”