A long, long busy day, taking pictures at a ‘homes for people’ rally out in the cold. My train was delayed and I had to wait 20 minutes shivering on the freezing cold platform, but then something wonderful happened.
As I waited, a man in his 60’s came and stood on the platform along from me and he was shortly followed by a young girl, perhaps 20. We sat in silence together.
I was busy reviewing some of my photos and looking at some information from the people I met today when I heard the lady ask the man if he had the train line app to see which train would get her to her destination the quickest.
He said he did not have a smart phone and then went on to give her a comprehensive talk through which train would get in to which station, and at what time. It didn’t look like he worked for a train firm but his knowledge was spot on.
Although he did not have a smart phone he had something more valuable – experience.
They continued their conversation and traded stories about their day, their plans, hopes and dreams. We boarded the same coach on the train together and their conversation continued. I looked around and watched the train coach full of people sat in silence on their phones, earplugs in.
The assumed position, hunched over squinting into a tiny box of lights after a long day, most likely looking at a computer screen, oblivious of the world around them – except for the man and woman who had struck up the conversation earlier on the train platform.
Ironically, I felt the need to capture this ‘missed moment’ and wondered how many times a day we miss moments, however small, that may brighten our days up in an immeasurable way just because we wanted to catch up on the latest Facebook post from our friends, tweet from our favourite celebs or the sporting news? Was I missing my own moment by pulling out the camera?
Before boarding the train, I found myself drawn to the Age Concern billboard ‘No one should have no one’, I thought on the train that it is entirely conceivable that the man on the train platform might not have spoken to another soul tonight until he returned to work tomorrow or wherever he came from this evening, except for the intervention for the young lady.
With the technology at our disposal, we are both more connected and disconnected than at any time in our history.
How many single serving experiences are we missing every day? And yet it all seems limitless. It’s not. Life is finite and we should make the most of each moment now because we won’t get them again.
Life is about our journey, not the destination. Enjoy it.
Author Bio:
Jamie writes at Red Pill Medium which is a collaborative umbrella group of like-minded people for an alternative and urban media source in the digital revolution. They welcome comments, criticism, ideas and inspiration; question everything.
Kindness Blog 
This was a nice story about human connections and the need for more of them. We have become so consumed with our own little worlds and it has caused us to miss the beauty of our interdependence upon one another to thrive in life on pretty much every level. Thanks for the reminder, for I too, am guilty. 😃
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Sweet piece, and a good reminder about the wisdom of people who’ve been around longer than we have….
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Never owned a “smart” phone – the dumb ones work just fine!, thanks for sharing!
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I love my smart phone but I also don’t like the disconnection is affords. My fiancé and I have a rich and wonderful relationship based on good conversation and 1:1 connection. Yet we catch ourselves sitting hunched over our devices for an hour or more; silent as we pour over Face Book or he- games. Ugh! I am consciously limiting my social media, even Kindness Blog to only a few minutes a day so I can be present to what’s here and now.
Thank you for your heart lifting story .
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Or she may have been the one for whom human interaction was sparse. He sounds practiced in connecting with people. Nice observation – reminds us of the opportunities we miss every day when we use our phones to avoid interacting with other people.
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Oh, so poignant. My computer connects me with scores of dear bloggers, promoting peace and compassion, and well as friends in the world of art for healing……..and yet, the people I see on a day to day basis usually have their noses in the light box. Personal choices, yes………but certainly a departure from the type of society I would like to see.
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So very true.
Best, Mike.
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We all need human contact. yes it is sad when we are so involved in our smart devices that we don’t see who is next to us, and whether they need help or not.
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This is such a good post. We are really losing the art of face to face communication. And the picture you posted says it all!
Thank you for sharing!
~Carl~
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Thanks, Carl.
Best, Mike.
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Greetings human! I have nominated you fur the Real Neat Blog award and the Primio Dardos award!Concatulations!😺💙
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MIAOW! 🙂
Thank you x
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You are very welcome! Your blog is a breath of fresh air!🌹💙
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Very Nice article. Human contacts face to face are necessary.
It is the Greatest Gift that can ever give.
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“Single serving experiences.” I love this term and we should find more of them. They are there for the taking.
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Reblogged this on ONLYtheGOODnews and commented:
My choice for Good News of the day ….
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