Uncouth Bluetooth

Ever see those people in traffic, at the coffee shop, walking their dog, walking into work, in the wee hours of the morning talking on the phone? I do. Daily. My question to you is, who are they talking to? No one that I know is up (and at 'em) that early, and certainly no one I know has that important of information to tell me before the double digits of the morning.

Curious, I listened in on one loud-talking morning jab session walking into my work building. It seemed to me, she was talking to a friend about a romantic situation...

At.

7.

A.

M.

Definitely information that could wait. Or could it?

It very well may have been that it was a morning after walk of shame (just to have someone on the other line so she didn't feel so awkward walking in a party dress and heels in the downtown bustle of the workweek) support call. Could be.

In that case, I'd imagine the woman on the other end of the line to look a little something like this:



"Oh my gawd Becky"








Either way, the incessant need to always be on the phone irritates me. I appreciate people that live in the here and now. Not the hear and now. I get that people need to make long distance phone calls to old friends and out-of-town family. I get that some business just can't wait. I'm talking about the people who get in their car and first things first put on their bluetooths and dial away. Chatty Cathy.

[Side note: I was completely unaware of the creepy old school Chatty Cathy dolls until this very moment when I was searching for an image for the blog. I could have lived my whole life not knowing that existed...and wish I had].

Chatty Cathies often are not self proclaimed. They are usually people (albeit rare, Chatty Chadwicks can exist too! I'll refer to them collectively as CCs from here on out) who miss the normal social cues of conversation. For example, the hedges used to end phone conversations, the abrupt changes in subjects, the quiet other end on the line... CCs love talking about themselves and will do so to just about anyone.

Shadow a CC for the day and I bet my left shoelace you'll hear at least 2 of their stories more than once. I feel like they have the undying need to explain every detail and piece of background information in order to get their story across. CCs live in a life where they imagine that everyone else finds their life's happenings to be as interesting as they do.

The advent of cell phones is making this just the more possible. CCs have branched out from bored housewives and retirees to on-the-go soccer moms and secretaries in Vermont. CCs are more prominent than ever.

More seriously, the introduction of mobile communication has doused the world with ADD. Now, because we can do more, and the competition has been doing more for months now, to keep up we too must do more. All the time, on the go, hurry, faster, now!! My heart rate increases just thinking about the stress this has caused.

Technology... that two-faced son of a jackal.