Look Up!

What do Blackberries have to do with the revolution you ask? A lot. Let me explain.

For as long as the Sidekick/Palm Pilot/Blackberry have existed, I have had a strange aversion to them. Maybe this makes me seem old, uncool, out of touch, or all of the above. I probably am. But I just find them to be really obtrusive and am annoyed to no end when the people around me use them in my presence. A few moments stand out to me. I was invited over to a friends house for dinner, and as the 7 of us sat around the coffee table, 4 of the people there pulled out their various electronic devices and conducted what I can only assume was life-saving texting. One of my very best friends came and visited me recently, and as a group of us walked down the street, they were all completely immersed in their blackberries; even though they had wanted to walk around to "see the sites" (If you are reading this friend, I apologize for calling you out, I love you, and hey, look you inspired a blog!).

Now I am by no means against technology. I love TV, the internet, instant messaging, and I swear DVR is the best invention of the 21st century- and probably the 20th as well. I use my cellphone all the time as a way not to interact with strangers; pretending I am on an important phone call because I know that lady with the crazy eye wants to chat. But now I have friends who won't talk on the phone, choosing instead to send me like 30 text messages to tell me about their drunken night, or who pick up their blackberry at the first lapse in conversation. Don't even get me started on sexting, or whatever, because if you can't at least pick up the phone to let me know you would like to hook up with me, then I am not wasting a precious free text message responding to you.

This addiction to the blackberry makes me sad. Because, like I said to my visiting friend- don't you want to look up and see what is going on around you. How do you take in the wonder of the world if you have this little screen of information that shuts everything else out? I have noticed that the more people spend with their electronics, the less able they are to have conversations about the world around them. I was in a museum recently, and over half the people in there were either rushing through taking pictures, or strolling through the Picasso's checking the weather in their hand. Why did you even show up, and what did you hope to gain?

Those little lulls in conversation that are the perfect opportunity to check your phone, well they are also the perfect opportunity to change the dialogue. Did you read the article about gay marriage? Can you believe that the cops arrested a guy for burglarizing his own home? Those lulls are the opportunity to talk about the big stuff. They are also the opportunity to look around, see that woman in the hideous outfit, point her out to your companions, and spend the next 30 minutes in hysterical laughter. You missed the man with a squirrel on his shoulder because you were checking your twitter!!!! Unforgiveable.

Technology is such a huge benefit to the revolution; it connects us, it gives us access to endless amounts of information and it organizes us. At the same time, technology is a tool and not a lifestyle. At the end of the day, I am talking to a human, not a blackberry. Although, ironically, right now I am talking to a computer, not a person...