People behaving badly, 21st-century style

"Up or down?," I asked the woman in the elevator.

No answer.

"Up or down?," I repeated.

Still no answer.

"Oh, well, I'll take my chances," said I, and stepped into the elevator.

I looked at Silent Samantha, who still had her eyes glued to her hand-held computer.

"You don't talk to people."

"Yes I do. But this is very important."

"You don't talk to people."

No, she doesn't talk to people, just to machines.

How typically 21st-century, to ignore the people with whom you've gone out to lunch in order to talk to a cell-phone caller, or to text or twitter while in class (heaven help our children's education).

Some of us have even been known to keep a spouse waiting for dinner while they send that last e-mail, upload that last photo, or finish that blog post. Guilty as charged. It has occurred to me that my son is probably lucky that blogging didn't exist when he was a kid, or he might have had to wait for his bedtime story.