Brain Blog
Who have We become?
I was sitting in my car having lunch near a Starbuck’s location in The Woodlands, Tx. I must admit that I love to people watch, and I get so many analogies and life lessons from engaging in this activity. As I’m sitting there watching people conversing on the patio with others, as well as those with pets, and those sitting by themselves, something else really captivated me! What was it you asked? I’m glad that you asked me that question! I watched (at least) 8-10 people pull up, park, exit their vehicles, walk into Starbucks, pick up their order from the counter, return to their vehicles and drive off into their “Caffeine and Sugar” filled day! There was nothing illegal or wrong with what I’d witnessed, but there was something very concerning to me that also speaks to our society. It was the lack of any verbal exchange, a hello, smile, head nod, fist bump or thank you to another human being! What I witnessed was how we’ve become so comfortable with doing what we leave our homes to do out in public and not seek any interaction with another “warm-blooded’ person! It made me start to think about “HOW” we have become so comfortable with this kind of behavior, and uncomfortable with talking with someone eye-to-eye in real time. There are a lot of contributing factors, some subtle, and some very intentional and “in-your-face”. I won’t take out the time to do a “Laundry List” of things that I think have contributed to this right now, but I will mention a couple of things.
One is the most recent Pandemic (I’ll keep my thoughts about this to myself) that we’ve come out of, and that some are trying to take us back to (Fear is the motivating factor here)! We were ignorant of never having dealt with something so Ominous and “Larger than Life” on a Global and Local scale that forced us to adopt some ways of thinking and behaving (in the name of safety) that we operate in now. We became very comfortable with not speaking/talking to others, and actually viewing them as a possible “transmitter/carrier” of the “Grim Reaper” like creature called…..Covid19! We wore masks (a false sense of security and little to no protection) that reminded us that we shouldn’t be talking to anyone about anything in person. We also were standing in lines with several feet in between us protecting us from the people in front, behind, or on either side of us who could “infect us”. We were mandated by our government and employers to isolate ourselves from other human contact if we tested positive and treat each other like prisoners in “solitary confinement” for at least 14 days. We were introduced to this thing called “Contactless/Curbside” pickup (that many still use today) where we allowed someone who we had no relationship with, hadn’t done any background check on, didn’t know if they really worked for the store (we assumed they did because they had on the right shirt), and hadn’t showed us if they were “negative or positive” at the time when they loaded our purchases into our vehicles as we sat there with masks on, no interchange with them, just unlocked our vehicle so they could place our items in the vehicle, lock our doors, and leave (probably de-sanitizing our vehicles once we got back home). Neighbors who we possibly had known for years, had their families over for meals began to leave items at our doors without any exchange with them. We became “accustomed to”, “comfortable with” doing what I witnessed, a quick “contactless In-and-Out” to pick up our stuff!
In closing, I want to ask you a couple of questions. Is this a part of your daily routine? I mean, I know we can say that it saves us time! But, what’s the cost of this to our social lives, mental health, social skills, human contact/interaction that we all need and long for at times? Second question, what are we modeling for our kids, grandkids, and other loved ones? I can’t answer this question for you, but I can challenge you to think about it!
I’m sure I’ll have more to share about this, but in the meantime, I’d like to know what your thoughts are considering your own actions or observations regarding this issue?
God bless and “Live with Urgency, Leave a Legacy”! It’s “Within You”!! Darryl