I recall my mum asking me how long it took for an email to reach someone, and then sometime after, the same question about SMS which seemed far more advanced because we didn't have to be logged onto our pc as we previously did for email.
Decades ago, my Dad had missed his last train home after a late shift at work. As my parents did not have any telephones, my Dad was even more determined to get home to my mum so that she wouldn't worry. He caught a train heading in the right direction, and was advised by a staff member that he could jump off the train where it slowed down near the closest station to home and then get a cab, which he did, which ended up costing him 60% of his day's earnings. What a difference today's options would have made to both my parents that night.
Now, everything is instantly available in the palms of our hands. The one thing that a previous generation would have loved is now taken for granted. We have the option of texting or calling someone and yet we can't even seem to find the time to say hello to people we supposedly love.
When we look around, most people are holding a mobile device and this barely leaves them. At work, people still dive into their phones whilst sat at their desks or in meetings, in shops, we might be checking the mobile whilst we wait in a queue, and who doesn't take their phone to the toilet with them when they go?!
My family are too busy running around after their kids that I'm lucky to even get a response never mind a proactive first text from most. Listening to random women talking in the coffee shops, I hear similar stories about their relationships with partners (usually sound like quite new relationships) where there is a lack of communication from their partners. What is this all about? I find it hard to believe that these people don't have any time to even text.
Times have changed and where we didn't once have to communicate so frequently when we didn't have the options available, we find ourselves communicating far more frequently and then get into trouble when we don't because we've obviously prioritised something or someone else that possibly isn't as important to us as the person(s) waiting to hear from us. Unless you don't actually own a mobile device, do you really have any excuse not to be communicating more? The mobile option is a gift. We're very lucky to have it. I can't help but feel sad that my parents' generation missed out on it.
