Shhh… I’m texting.

The other evening, while attending a friend’s cookout, I was struck by the noise. And not the noise of raucous laughter and friendly banter. Actually, no one was saying a word. It was the sound of texting – the clicking of practiced fingers on keys too small to hit quite right. To hear it sounded like walking into an office of busily typing Lilliputians. To see it looked like witnessing a competitive game of Contra with 10 people all gathered around the Nintendo, hitting keys faster than their brains could compute. It occurred to me at that moment that society has morphed into a definite and odd juxtaposition where we are both more and less personal. I fear this transition would make Emily Post put her elbows on the table in sheer disgust. What was the reason that while in the presence of purported friends, everyone was texting someone else? Was it a replacement for the current company or a way to include others that couldn’t be in physical attendance? Either way, I’m positive that Tweeting about Michael Jackson’s death and updating your Facebook status so everyone knows where you are is far more important than sharing your secret BBQ sauce ingredient with the Grillmaster du jour. Such is the world we have created, where being more accessible has made us out of reach.