Dear Dr. Happy
I don’t get what’s going on with young people today (my husband and I are retired). They all seem to wear earbuds on the street, in stores, at dinner, or wherever. And not just that, but they spend every minute staring at their phones, sending and receiving text-messages. I see couples in restaurants ignoring each other while texting or playing games on their phones. What kind of world is this? I think what these people are adoing is nuts. All my friends agree with me; all, that is, but my “Everything is okay” husband. He just sits there smiling like it’s all just ducky. What’s wrong with him?
Really Annoyed
Dear Really Annoyed, The past decade or so has seen unprecedented advances in consumer technology. So, we now have telecommunication hardware unlike anything we’ve had before. As a member of the older generation, you and your friends are, understandably, more observers than participants in all this new stuff. In addition, there is a phenomenon called Cultural Lag. Culture needs time to catch up with the best way for using the new technological innovations and this causes social problems and conflicts. So, we shouldn’t be surprised or dismayed when we see the effects of this cultural lag going on. Your husband has the right idea: amused tolerance and curiosity are much better ways to view what’s happening rather than your more judgmental dismay. It is also more realistic and much better for your happiness.