Journal Entry #2 Reflection piece [One Funny Day]

Last week as I took my usual train to home I had the most delightful
meeting. I use the word delightful for two reason; one, because this experience
was really delighting (in the sense that you feel a giddy sort of pleasure) and
two, because this man cannot be described as anything else but delightful.

As usual the tram was full and so I was standing close to an old man sitting
opposite two teenage girls. His smile to me was what caught my attention and as
I tentatively smiled back (I am really shy) I moved closer to hear the
conversation between the girls (just shows the extent of my boredom). Anyway
the old man notices the girls’ fascination with their iphones and other
technological devices and says (jokingly of course):

"One day they will create a box that will allow you to talk to the
spirits...you can just dial and you will be able to speak to anyone who’s
died...watch it'll be the next thing out"

With that I started laughing it was just so clever. Ha-ha. However the girls
did not see the humour and tried to pacify him with the usual "oh right
sure". (Eye rolling). The minute these girls got off at their stop I took
their seat and began talking to the man. Turns out this man was not only
wickedly funny and but he can speak 13 languages (perfectly) and likes to talk
about the "good old days" and also has an odd fascination in knitting
and crochet He was really something and his
charisma captured anyone that sat next us.

He did say something which made me think. "These people these days all
have their heads down on this little box just pressing it...they don’t look up
just sit there on it for hours. They don’t want to talk to anyone and they don’t
even smile. Back in my days it was different."

Looking around I realised just how true this was. We really are a
technological society and rely on technology for everything. Instead of asking
someone for directions, we pull out smart phones and map it. We've completely
dislodged ourselves from the physical society and have turned the cyber world
into a reality. We don’t go to our local shopping strip anymore, we internet
shop. We don’t send letters, we email. We don’t talk anymore, we 'chat' now. We have even reached the stage of meeting people online.

Moral of the story: There’s more to life than technological boxes. Seriously,
the next time you see a person (yes a real life human) willing to converse with you go for it.

Joseph Hassan 11A