|
'Abby' Readers Fear We've Lost Touch with Each Other
By Bonnie Williams
Few of the answers were surprising. They ranged from too much religion to too little
religion, from the lack of forgiveness to egocentricity to ignorance of the potential
power of how much of an impact a seemingly simple decision can be.
One wit even identified a legitimate problem in a Comedy Central way: "It's apathy...
but who cares?" Yet in the midst of the "breakdown of the nuclear family" and "lack of
personal responsibility" and "intolerance," we found what we think of as the backbone
of the breakdown in a simple concept: We've lost touch with each other as human beings.
Even with those we love we are stingy in our attention. We e-mail a greeting card
instead of taking the time to pick out and purchase one. We multitask and, in many
cases, end up being a jack of all trades who is, as the adage goes, master of none.
We are all rushing around and getting more behind every day as we try to be all, do all,
have all and make ourselves indispensable in a throw-away world.
We create wondrous things that are supposed to make our lives easier, but only create
more ways to isolate ourselves under the guise of being too busy to bother with the
simple pleasures that it seems only the very old and the very young can appreciate anymore.
We want others to tolerate our views but fail to see the value of theirs. Anyone who is
different is suspect and, pretending we want to help them "make their lives better,"
we try to find ways to impose our beliefs and culture and mores on others.
And yes, as one of Abby's readers pointed out, there is a lack of personal
responsibility. Someone else is always to blame.
Yet it all seems to travel in a circle that comes back to being out of touch.
The anonymous comments of someone in a chat room cannot hurt us, but they usually
provoke us to respond with cruel or insensitive or rude comments of our own.
We pay no attention to who is trying to fill our lunch order during a very busy
noon hour, only noticing if it isn't done fast enough for our liking.
We're name callers. Others are idiots or fools or liberals or conservatives or
ignorant or too smart for their own good or our taste. We use profanity as
if it constituted the only words available and then cringe when our children
repeat the slurs and wonder where they heard them.
There is much sadness in the world, but there are so many who are willing to
address it. They may do it for publicity, but most of the time they do something
kind because it needs to be done. Yet there are those among us who are so wrapped
up in their own perceptions that they neglect to give any consideration to the
greater good, much less their neighbor.
Perhaps the problem isn't that we have lost touch with each other. Maybe it's
that we have lost touch with ourselves, with what is important, what is lasting
and what can never be replaced by a computer, a new job, a marvelous pair of shoes
or the latest phone/camera/datebook/hot sandwich maker/Web browser/status symbol.
And perhaps we've forgotten the Golden Rule in the midst of trying
to make a profit off it on eBay.
Bonnie Williams is editorial-page editor of the Anderson, S.C., Independent-Mail. She can be reached at williamsbc@independentmail.com.
San Jose Mercury News, February 13, 2008, 19A |
