Do you know of anyone who died from not forwarding that serial email to five others? Unfortunately, I have heard of some people who thought their “cousin” had died in a foreign country before they got their money out, which required their bank account number only to accomplish the transfer of funds.
It seems like only yesterday that green message slips were taken for telephone messages in an office. Now anyone can reach you at any time, even during funeral services. I am struggling with this need for all to be right now. Somehow we seemed to do okay with: “May I leave a message?” Now people seem to be vibrating with crazy noises of all type coming out of their pockets and purses all the time. I really like it when someone pulls out one of those giant pads/telephones to take a call. Kind of reminds me of the Crocodile Dundee movie when he said: “Now that’s a knife.”
The tour of the Secret Cold War Bunker at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia still requires you to check and leave your telephone before the tour starts. You see people shaking as they hand it over. I am sure it was the same when Wyatt Earp asked the Clancey brothers to check their guns before going into the saloon in Tombstone. Some people seem just too connected these days.
My favorites are the quiet stalls of the men’s room and then someone says: “Hello.” Really, could you wait just a minute or two? The classic is the 70' movie theater screens that admonish all to turn off their phones. It is quiet as the movie is about to start – a phone rings – and the Jeopardy type answer is always: “Nothing” to the unheard question of “What are you doing?”
Oh, for the good old days of Mrs. Smith just yelling out her back door: “Billy Bob, get your butt home now.” That was communication. It was direct. It was effective.
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