Just as computers have made communication easier than ever today, the social atomization that computers impose has simultaneously rendered people less effective at interpersonal communication than ever. Do today's young people have the necessary skills to cope with the challenge of making themselves understood? What strategies can they employ to share their experiences and insights?
Driving along 19th Street towards the Safeway at 1 a.m. this morning, I nearly struck three pedestrians (Party #1) who were crossing the street. Party #1's slick dress marked them as nightclub aficionados, perhaps rendered insensible by futile efforts at communication upon a deafening dance floor, and thus nearly converted into roadkill.
Turning into the Safeway parking lot, I saw a stochastic scattering of individuals wandering alone across the tarmac - the sad wreckage of Internet victims on yet another Saturday night. There was only one grouping of two people: one fellow had draped his arm around the shoulders of another fellow, and was helping him lurch across the lot. The incapacitated fellow had apparently hit upon the strategy of using ethyl alcohol to break down social barriers, but had stumbled into the trap of overconsumption. So, these two were also victims of the Internet.
By this time, Party #1 had stumbled across the lot and was now hailing another party of three individuals (Party #2) as they stumbled out their parked car. Would these two parties, complete strangers to each other, have the social skills to find common interests?
Party #1: Party? Party?
Party #2: Party.
Party #1: Party?
Party #2: Party.
Party #1: PARTY! PARTY!
Party #2: PARTY! PARTY!
Party #1: (with great emphasis) F*** YEAH!
No comments:
Post a Comment