DEAR ABBY: Our youngest son was honored at his groom's dinner last month. As I looked down our table, six of our guests were fixated on sending/receiving text messages on their cell phones. One young woman sat staring off into space because no one had made any attempt to engage her in conversation.
Finally, I remarked that this was rude and that people should shut off their gadgets and get to know one another. These people were invited to honor my son who was being married. It did not go over well. I got comments like, "What's wrong with that?" "Oh, I have taken my knitting to these events," and, "I do this all the time." My thought was, "Well, stay home then and text away!"
Is it so hard for people to tune in and turn on to what is going on around them and forgo their "toys" during special life events? I am ... TIRED OF TECHNOLOGY
DEAR TIRED OF TECHNOLOGY: Obviously it is. But some people are so "addicted" to their electronic devices that they literally go into a form of withdrawal if they can't check for messages every few minutes. I agree that what happened was rude. But having discussed this subject with more than one psychiatrist, what I'm hearing is that many individuals today who effectively communicate on their devices, have difficulty engaging in eye-to-eye, one-on-one social interaction. That may explain the phenomenon you observed at the party.