Interrupted Conversations

I am not sure about you but I miss the days when wireless technology did not interrupt every conversation. I liked it when I could walk up to someone and have a chat with hardly any interruptions.

Unfortunately, today anyone might have a wireless device connected to their belt, hidden in a purse, stashed somewhere in their pockets, etc. It is like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off at any minute. When it comes alive, it causes the person you are chatting with to get that funny twitch in the eye, their trigger happy hand searching for the device, eager to pick it up.

Actually, it is not so much technology that I dislike but the manners people have. For example, when having a conversation with another person their wireless device might start ringing/vibrating. The type of behavior I expect is to quickly silence the device but, no, they hold up the index finger (signing that I should wait while they handle the interruption) and start the new conversation. Where is the respect? Was I not talking to you first? Have you heard of a clever technology called voice mail?

This situation does not confine itself to one-on-one situations. It happens at the movies, grocery store, at the gym, etc. Even conference rooms. Now, one would think that when you are in a professional environment that you would leave your wireless device either at your desk or turned completely off. Nope. There are countless times when I have been in a meeting and several of the attendees have cell phones ringing or vibrating one or more times during the session. Generally, these interruptions are not business related. My guess is that 7 out of 10 times, it is family and friends.

Have we become so trained, like Pavlov’s dogs, to immediately reach for the device as soon at it comes alive? Beckoning to its every call? Drug addicts in need of our next instant fix? I certainly hope not but it does seem to be a part of our culture now.

As for me, I leave my cell phone on vibrate. If I am having a conversation with someone and either the desk or cell phone rings, or my instant chat or e-mail pops up then I ignore it. It can wait until I have finished with who I am talking with first.

If you get that nervous twitch to answer your phone before we have finished our conversation…I’ll walk away and you can read about why I acted the way I did when you get an e-mail with a link to this posting.

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