Peace And Quiet

I have been thinking about how hard it is to find peace and quiet in our constantly connected world. It seems just about everywhere you go has some kind of media to stimulate you. If only there were a Cell Phone B Gone that were legal and readily available at your favorite retailer.

As I may have said before, I am one of the few remaining people on this planet who do not have a cell phone. We have one of those prepaid cell phones that is used for I am not so in demand that I would require the ability for anyone to access me at any time. For that matter, I would not want to be available to everyone. I know people who make themselves available for work any time and any place. My work life ends when I come home. I try not to do personal business on work time, and also do not do work business on personal time. It's a simple matter, really. In fact, I have turned down a promotion that required me carrying a pager 24 x 7. There's not enough money in the world to marry me to my job.

When I'm at the store, or in public in general, people are constantly talking on cell phones or text messaging. From what I hear, none of it is that important or even remotely interesting. I can't get over the people in the stores who will call someone a couple aisles over and tell them to come to their aisle. Good grief. What a waste of resources. I'm wondering when we all became so involved in the minutiae of life. "I just bought a new rug for the kitchen."

It seems that with all of these technological advances in personal communication that we are more disconnected than ever before. I see these commercials where the family falls all over the dad for buying more minutes and text messaging and it scares the hell out of me. I know these people exist, I see them in Target. They have unlimited nights, weekends and just about any other time, just by taking the time to interact. You don't need a contract for that!

I just wish people would understand that this technology is supposed to help us, not make us slaves to everyone around us. The world will continue to turn if you are out of contact for minutes, hours or days. It's a simple thing to turn that power button off and focus on the world around you. I just wish that we all could do that more often.