denny | (no subject) (Reply)

From http://www.nakedloftparty.com/journal/2006/07/05/385/the-cripple :

[The girl I'm with] keeps reaching into her purse for her cell phone and surreptitiously checking text messages from some phone stalker. I catch her doing it, then she apologizes, and then, minutes later, she does it again.

Remember the good old days, when people didn’t drag their virtual pals with them everywhere? Neither do I. Seems rather quaint now, like something out of A Prairie Home Companion.

It’s been said we despise in others those qualities we truly despise in ourselves. When, the very next night, I catch myself doing the very same thing — to my parents, no less — I realize that I too suffer from the New Yorker’s attention deficit disorder. I’ve become, in a sense, a social cripple, hobbling from one trivial interaction to the next, always off balance, unable or unwilling (I don’t know which) to steady myself in the moment.

I've noticed myself doing this a couple of times recently - checking text messages while I'm actually talking to someone else. Generally while they're talking. It's really rude, and if anyone notices me doing it they are welcome to point this out... I'd very much like to lose the habit.

The bit about steadying yourself in the moment particularly caught my eye... it's something I've always tried to do, with a reasonable amount of success I think -