Hel-lo-o… I’m right here!
Oops, I did it again!
The other day I fell for the old I’m-not-talking-to-you-I’m-on-my-cellphone trick. I was in the grocery store and approaching a woman who smiled and said “Hey, how’s it going?”
I smiled back and said, “I’m great! How are you?”
The smile disappeared from her face and she practically growled at me. “I’m not talking to you.” She turned away and spoke into the mouthpiece I now saw dangling near her chin. “Geesh, some woman just started talking to me.”
I felt embarrassed and humiliated.
It isn’t uncommon that my “I must be invisible” complex rears its ugly head whenever I find myself around people with cell phones.
Either they’re talking too loudly (why is that hearing only one side of a conversation seems so much more intrusive than hearing two or more loud people having a conversation?) or they’re giving their thumbs a carpal-tunnel worthy workout as they send secret notes (reminiscent of my high school days when no one sent me notes either) to each other.
Even my husband has ignored me to tap in a message to one of his employees or friends. He’ll press buttons on that magical little gizmo and access the Internet for some pressing piece of information. One time I mentioned Damarascotta, Maine and wondered how far away it was from our house. The next thing I knew he whipped his trusty flip phone off his belt clip and started pushing buttons.
“It’s about 60 miles from us,” he told me a few minutes later.
Perhaps I was supposed to be impressed by this “gee, whiz” bit of information but all I felt was insulted. I turned my body away from him and sulked.
Every time I’m with someone who possesses a cell phone and is compelled to participate in a lengthy discussion (what happened to saying, “I’m with a friend right now, can I call you back?”) my self-esteem takes a hit. When someone pulls out a cell phone and starts punching buttons when I’m in the middle of sharing my thoughts I feel that cloak of invisibility spreading over me.
So when you have the opportunity to enjoy some face-to-face time with a friend, family member or even a stranger, remember your manners. Treat that person with respect and kindness. Talking to or texting messages doesn’t impress people. It annoys them.
It makes them want to scream: “Hel-lo-o! I’m right here! Talk to me!”
Unfortunately, the screams usually go unheard… is it because they’re coming from an invisible person?
