Are you here, or are you there?

Most afternoons I take the same route home, and most afternoons I see exactly the same thing that boggles my mind beyond words. Since I park my van right next to Wooldridge Hall, after exiting the lot, I inch my way south on Seton St. to 24th St. and hope that I can make the left/quick right jag onto Nueces. I'm a cautious driver, and I am uber-aware that I'm in the university area. However, it never ceases to amaze me how totally disconnected and unaware the students are of their surroundings. Instead of paying attention to traffic or enjoying Austin's incredible weather, the students are talking on their cell phones, checking their iPhones, or listening to their iPods. So the question is this: Where are you when you're nowhere at all?

Has technology taken us over so much that we can't enjoy the NOW? Or are we really enjoying NOW and the enjoyment is in the technology? I suppose because I didn't grow up with all the gadgets that are now available to people practically from birth, I just don't understand the fascination that preoccupies so many people.

Several months ago I had a conversation with a young man, perhaps in his late twenties. He had just gotten a new phone that had all the latest apps, and he proceeded to exclaim the joy in having his new "toy"...my word, not his. He was most impressed with his ability to know the exact physical location of any of his friends. I was appalled! It seemed very creepy to me to have that kind of access to others' whereabouts. On the other hand, he felt that it was a plus. "What if my friend is lost and needs to find me in a crowd?" he queried. "This way we can easily find each other."

This dependence on the technology almost seems to preclude us from knowing who we are. There's an innate desire as humans to have contact with other human. Yet, do we need to be connected ALL the time? Have we become so dependent on others that we've forgotten how to be alone in the physical world? A stroll home after class with our own thoughts or perhaps in the company of friends seems more engaging than having one's ears attached to someone or some thing far away.

Where is all this connectedness taking us? What will happen if the technology is taken away, for whatever reason? Will we still know how to communicate face-to-face, or will we be lost in the world, not knowing if we're here or there?

I have a cell phone and an iPod. They're great! Nevertheless, they are extraneous tools that both isolate and connect. It's a paradox that I grapple with often. Frankly, however, I just don't want to run over someone on my way home.