Together in the same room, yet many miles apart

The seat is strategic. I can see folks as they enter, look around, before deciding where to sit. It is the new eatery in my neighbourhood and the number of customers has increased over the months. It has a restaurant, lounge and rooms are cosy, beautiful and welcoming.

From my seat, I read my book, look around before going back to read again. I read slowly, taking in the content, highlighting key points, while taking notes. From this very position, I get to observe many people and their mannerisms. I learn many things by this one act of deliberate observation.

One thing I find heart-breaking is the power and impact of a smartphone. You will find a couple having a meal and yet, each one is engaged with their phone. What is even more absurd is when people are in groups; sometimes its families, but other times it feels like friends or peers.

They arrive and no sooner have they taken their seats than they all pull out their phones. They take some selfies and then they photograph their food. They punctuate their eating with short glimpses on their phones, which often translates into longer moments. Before long, there is a distinct silence on the table because everyone is engaged on their phones.

Someone said that we are a generation that died to each other.  We can be together in the same room and yet be miles apart, updating our different social media platforms. We share laughing emojis and stickers, while the faces and hearts behind the typing fingers are sad and broken. We have mastered the art of being there without being present; alive and yet dead.

The technological advancement has caused a tragic paradox of our times and what we define as progress. We hold conversations that are distant and personified with lifeless drama. We are always in a rush to go absolutely nowhere.

Ours is a generation that jumps out of bed before sunrise and yet they are unable to sleep even when the lights are out. The children out of these very tidings are several times distant, dettached and completely distracted from what actually matters.

Their misjudged opinions are formed by a reckless social media that could not care less to separate what is the truth from treachery. Therein lies the next biggest tragedy of all time.

The rise of a self-entitled generation that cares for no quality of truth and has no ability to separate the precious from the vile. Parents and children alike have been swept over by the madness and pain of this tide of advancement. The little gadgets in our hands have messed up the very people they would have been helping. What a painful irony!