Francesca, my wife, decided to write me an actual note on paper tonight while she was at her micro-economics class. Hell, if I was taking micro-economics, I’d be looking for some way to waste time too. Anyway, here’s the full content of her note (with permission, of course):
Dear Jay, I feel like chatting with you – but I don’t have email or IM in this class. I guess I’ll have to resort to a good old note. Funny – I don’t think I’ve written a note in class in a very long time! So… howz it going – damn! This is different than IM.
Yep, that’s it. The whole thing. And, to be honest – I know exactly how she was feeling.
On another note, during this particular class, Fran mentioned that they received their marks back, and overall the class did not do too well. When the time came for a break, everyone heads to the cafeteria to get a coffee or something to snack on – when she arrived there were about ten people from her class, all mumbling angrily into their cell phones. Fran commented that this is an interesting societal change we’re seeing; 10 years ago (and probably even less), those angry students would be talking to each other, commiserating about their marks and possibly even planning study sessions. Today, none of them even know each other’s names.
As someone who is a huge technology enthusiast and supporter, I find this sort of trend troubling; I’m not sure we as a society gain enough from online interactions to counteract the negative influences, like this one.
Please note: I've moved my active blogging over to a new site, called Jason Clarke - Infinite Bass Line. I will leave this site up indefinitely, but if you're interested in my latest posts please consider visiting the new site.