plugged in

I'm always 'plugged in'. On the bus, on the train, walking to work, walking home from work, in the elevator, at my desk. I'm always plugged in. And it irritates the snot out of me when my down-time gets interrupted with small-talk. "Hi" *long pause waiting my dull-witted response of "Hi". Mmmk. Pleasantries aside. What the $#@* made you think I wanted to say hello? And then I realize the irony of the situation that I find myself. My annoyance with People™ is the exact same disease that plagues the rest of society. Things like road-rage are just a symptom of a growing problem.

I'm aware that the world functions on a counterfeit sense of etiquette. We say "Hello, how are you?" and we really couldn't give a &*#(), could we? People often smile at strangers, say things like "Oh, it was lovely to see you" and all we wish would happen would be for a giant octopus to come out of the sewer and whisk us off to a better world, don't we? The more attention I pay to the world around me the more I am bothered by its posthumous impression. I'm also aware that deep down people care about the ones closest to them. I know that when it comes down to it, these cookie-cutter people that surround me really believe they are living a life that is worth living. I know that within their sphere of influence they are indeed someone of consequence to someone else. Well, most people are. The 98% of People™ that I think are completely unaware of Life™ also think that I am part of the 98% that is unaware. THAT is vicious irony.

I was speaking with a friend the other day, relaying to her my thoughts on globalization. How, the world has become so connected with technology and industry and how it was to have made us more connected to one another yet it has disconnected us in the process. Globalization has turned the world on and the humans off. We're more content to plug into our mp3 players, televisions and computers than to interact with one another. What has opened the world to so many possibilities for knowledge and experience is exactly what is shutting down the utter curiosity we had to seek out such things in the first place. We're starting to cut off all that is human in the human race. We're annoyed at our fellow man. The way they drive, how they smell, the way they sound, the values they have, the values they impose, the way they breathe.

I'm just as guilty. I enjoy the time that I spend with myself. Listening to music. Or I enjoy the time I spend with loved ones close by or across the world. But the stench of humanity that is outside my door is what I cannot stand. How am I to break from this? And being fully aware of the situation, do I want to break from this? Probably not. Is it that I'm just to damn lazy to change what it is that I do; have grown up doing? Probably. What is it that I think the 2% of the world should do to change what it is that is happening. It is most likely too late to stop the momentum of decay in our society.

Maybe I'm the 1% that doesn't know they are part of the 98%.

*turns up her moosic*