Relearning conversation etiquette

It’s an established, tragic fact, that cell phones and mobile devices have replaced quality one-on-one conversations in most developed countries. This is accepted as a norm to such an extent that people have forgotten the etiquette they need to practice when they’re in company. Look around, you’ll see at least one in three people with their head bent down, staring unblinkingly at their mobile devices, fingers sliding across the screens, entirely oblivious to their surroundings. And that’s fine, go ahead and use your messaging applications, attack those enemy clans and stalk your exes all you want – as long as you’re alone and no one is attempting to speak to you.

Long gone are the days when you could just spark a random conversation with a stranger on a subway that you saw carrying a book you’re obsessed with. You can hardly expect complete, undivided attention from your spouse sitting right across the table from you over dinner, when you wish to tell him/her about an interesting incident that happened to you. Also, get used to repeating sentences several times at work because the brain of your colleague, whose eyes are literally glued to the cellphone, may take a while to process your words before you get a reply.

You may be trying to dodge awkward silences, or pretending to look busy to save yourself the pain of actually talking to someone, but you come off as rude and arrogant. Steal your gaze away from your virtual world and open your eyes to the real one. Put that mobile device away when someone speaks to you, quit relying on your games to kill time on the bus, instead of ‘checking in’ to places, go check them out instead — less snaps, more chats — share your experiences by narrating your stories, instead of limiting your thoughts to hashtags and 140 characters. Practice the dying etiquette of conversation to explore a world that you may have forgotten along the way. A million likes, re-tweets, comments and followers will never be as rewarding as a real smile, a shared secret, a priceless reaction and gaze of wonder in your direction!

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2016.