Oh, the Humanity! (Or lack therof)

I was sitting on the bus, waiting for it to leave campus today. Having finished reading anything in the paper of interest, I was absent-mindedly staring at the rain streaking down on the scurrying students outside. It can be pretty boring fare waiting for the bus to leave. So lately I've adopted a new hobby: people watching.

More specifically, I've been keeping track of the people that walk on to the bus (No, not in a stalkerish way, shiiit! But seriously, cute girl I see on the bus all the time, call me). I'm looking at their technology usage. It's absolutely incredible. Today, for instance, 70% of people on the bus were either listening to music or texting away. A rare few were doing both (or mexting, as they call it). On the bus ride home, those that were attached to their devices rarely looked up from them; frantic fingers pounded away, crafting text after text. Others scrolled through their music collection, looking for that perfect song to accompany them home.

People sat in the corners, absorbed in their own little worlds. A fucking comet could smash into the bus and they'd not notice.

There is a comedian, Louis CK, who has a stand-up bit about this. It's all really funny shit, and you should listen, laugh, and enjoy all his stuff, but his thesis in this case is essentially this: Everything's amazing and nobody's happy.

People think they need their phone to communicate with the world. Without it, they are are a raft without a paddle, peanut butter without jelly, Jordan without Pippen, etc. Well, it's not true. Entire empires have risen (and fallen), battles have waged, love has been found, friendships have been made, and countless other events have happened well before cell phones were ever invented. So life without cellphones obviously can be done. And when we make everything digital, turn real friends into text messages or acquaintances into pokes on Facebook, we lose our humanity.

I'm challenging myself to use my phone less and just enjoy the day. I'm challenging you to do it too. Who knows, maybe next time I won't be busy texting and I'll actually have a chance to talk to that cute girl.