Why is it so hard for Australian online action figure/collectibles stores to reply to my emails? There’s 5 of them that just seem to totally ignore me.
An excellent must-watch video: Can we autocorrect humanity?
It never ceases to astound me whenever I see people staring at their digital devices in the company of other people. I think even for adults this is a pretty ordinary display of a lack of manners, but it's even worse when I see them doing it in front of their children, and worse still when they enable or encourage their children to do it! Like parents plopping mobile devices in front of kids at the table to shut them up during meals, and sometimes the parents themselves are eating with devices in front of them.
And the last movie I saw there were a number of people checking their tablets and phones in the freaking cinema. What the hell is wrong with these people? Even my 9 year old thought it was hilariously weird when she recently saw a family eating at a table -- dad was playing with his phone and the school aged child was watching something on his mum's mobile while mum was just sitting there spoon feeding him. None of them were saying anything to each other. Dad was like a hunchback with his attention focused on his phone. The kid was an enslaved digital zombie and mum was just a slave feeding this kid like a machine. The silence between them was deafening. In the meantime my daughter and I are just sitting at the next table having a pleasant chat over lunch. No devices. Just direct social engagement with present company.
Obviously I'm not opposed to online social engagement as it's clearly what I'm doing right now. But I'm not in the presence of other people atm (I'm sick at home today). I wouldn't be typing this if I were.
I've also noticed a decline on face to face social interaction when a group of people are together.
Sad really, you won't get that time back, enjoy each other's company.
I'm surrounded by people and on my device. As well as on the train not wanting to be talked to, which is handy.
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I encouraged my students to talk to people on trains, buses etc. when we were in Japan (hmm yeah, talk to strangers ). My students still remember the time I talked to this lady who was with her little daughter in Kyoto. Then when we went to Nara I bumped into the same lady and her girl and she was with her mum! She actually saw me first and then ran up to chat with me again.
One of the most memorable moments for my students was when a Year 11 boy approached a group of female university students and said, 「僕は彼女がいません」("I don't have a girlfriend"). He instantly became a mini-celebrity as he was surrounded by these girls and started chatting with him. The funny thing is that this kid is normally super shy, and when this started happening I could see his face turning red as he looked at me, but I gave him an encouraging gesture and he just went with it!