When was the last time you waved at a stranger while passing them by in your vehicle? Perhaps a nod or a “howdy” while passing someone in the mall or on the street? If you can’t remember the last time, then you are seeing evidence of what our technology has done to us…and a clear and simple practice you can undertake to strengthen your own community growth.
Years ago when I was at Auburn University, one thing that was so evident on campus was how friendly everyone was together. You really couldn’t go 10 feet without a passerby, usually no one you knew personally, saying hello or giving a little “war eagle,” maybe a good morning. Once when my father visited and we went across campus, he was blown away by how many people spoke to me. While it was true by that time that I was somewhat known around the campus due to different activities that I participated in, I reminded him that everyone just spoke like that to everyone. I hope Auburn is still this way. however, with changes in our culture over the past 10 years, I have grave doubts.
Arthur Boers, a pastor and author, was being interviewed in 2012 by Ken Myers for the Mars Hill Audio Journal. He was talking about his book Living Into Focus which talks about how our modern world with its futuristic gizmos has actually isolated in ways that experts still are uncovering. In the interview, Boers shared a sad story about speaking on a college campus in Canada. He said that some of the adults describe being on campus much like I did for Auburn, but at that time (roughly 2010…so three years after the explosion of the smartphone), they had already noticed that fewer and fewer people actually said hello to one another.
Instead, their faces were nose down into their little screen. That is basically my experience when walking across campus of Valencia College. Probably 75% of the students, as they exit the classroom, are immediately reaching for the phone. I will say that as I walk around campus, I do see various students walking in pairs deep in conversation or chatting in small groups.
Perhaps, in the end, we start our second decade with mobile computing now ubiquitous, the generation of kids who grew up with those devices will become ever better at blending the device and the real world. Till then, and especially as new classes begin for us at Valencia, make it your point to look others that you pass in the eyes and say hello. Even if you never see them again, or if they don’t respond, you are acknowledging their humanity…and your own. We need each other in a physical space, in a physical interaction.