Five Cent Piece

Commentary by Kyle Cowan

Enjoying a rich cup of coffee at a restaurant on Sunday, Five Cent Piece had the opportunity to take part in one of the best, and least participated pastimes of modern man: people watching.

It was a strange experience to look upon the comings and goings of shoppers, taming wild toddlers and whispering sweet nothings to partners. A hug, a handshake and a wave. Small, often meaningful interactions between people. Unbeknown to shoppers, a keen eye was observing. Sip, watch, sip…

While cleaning up a particularly annoying coffee spill (an observer is often caught unawares by particularly attractive ladies walking past) a mother and daughter had taken a seat at a table nearby.

The next fifteen minutes were filled with the mother trying in vain to engage her daughter in conversation, but alas. The young maiden was glued to the screen of her smart phone, tapping away nonchalantly. Interest piqued, the observer became the eavesdropper.

Attempts at conversation failed, mother then whipped out her own clever telephone, and also proceeded to tap away at the screen. The observer felt instant sympathy for the abandoned mother, and wondered if she was perhaps sending her daughter a text message, asking her politely to put the sparkly gadget in her hand away.

Deeply philosophical questions plagued the remainder of the musings the observer had that day. What creatures have we become, glued to the screens of our phones? We walk on, not noticing the chances we miss to have real, meaningful interactions with people standing right next to us.

A challenge; leave your fantastic cellular device at home for one day. Speak to people you see, and you might be very surprised at the insight garnered from a quick conversation with the person waiting in the queue in front of you. For the casual observer, it is not hard to notice how stupid ‘smart’ phones are actually making us look.