Man, did I have a realization this weekend. I mean until this weekend, I didn’t realize just how bad things have gotten. It made me understand though why people simply don’t care anymore.

I know that statement of simply not caring anymore is a generalized one. I also know that there are a lot of people who do care. The problem is that people don’t see the problems.

My family and I just spent Easter weekend in Phoenix Arizona. No, it wasn’t a vacation, no not business and we weren’t visiting anyone either. My 14 year- old son was playing in a basketball tournament. That fact is irrelevant. The trip is what this story is about.

The realization that I had was that people are in their own little worlds totally oblivious to everything around them. Yes I mean everything, including and especially people with disabilities. The digital divide, wireless communication, stock quotes on cell phones. For crying out loud, no one would notice you even if you were crying out loud. They are to busy communicating.

This is an exciting time in our history. Let’s face it. With the advent of this technology, we can be informed, communicative and most importantly mobile. There is nothing that we can not accomplish from anywhere. In my opinion, because of that, we are going nowhere.

The story starts out with our drive to the airport. While riding as a passenger, I noticed many a driver talking on their cell phones. When the cell phones first came out, at least they were mounted in the cars and there was hands free talking. Today, most people have phones that can fit into the palm of their hands. Dialing one of those things is difficult when you’re not driving. It is extremely difficult when you are. Fortunately, there were no traffic incidents on the way to the airport. But traffic was slow as people were yapping on their phones. I thanked God we made it to the airport without incident. From that point on, I became very aware of what people were doing for some reason.

So now we are at the airport. There were people everywhere. Lines all over the place. Being a person with a mobility disability, this was not good. I thought, well maybe they will go fast. Yeah right, there were people in line who were talking on their cell phones to whomever. They were doing this when the skycaps were trying to take their luggage and check them in. Talking and checking in. Taking up everyone’s time. Not caring at all about anyone. Not even noticing if anyone around them had a disability.

Someone did have a disability, unfortunately, it was I. By now, my legs are completely numb and as you can imagine I’m getting irritable.

From there, we have to go to the gate to get our boarding passes. Another long line. I thought, this is becoming unbearable. This time, both the people in front of us and in back of us were on the phone totally oblivious to their surroundings. One was having a business meeting and the other talking to a friend. I didn’t want to listen to either conversation. You know what I mean. I was forced to and I didn’t like it. What ever happened to personal space? From my vantage- point I could see a number of people on the line on their cell phones. Refusing to hang up even when they are at the gate and the worker is asking them trivial information like "did you pack your bags yourself or was your luggage out of your site at all?" Giving them the pat "No, No" answer, their conversation didn’t even skip a beat. Again not caring that there are people in wheelchairs, on canes or oxygen behind them who would love to get out of that line. By now, my back and legs are on fire, I must say that I was not in the mode for this. What could I do though? I truly believe that without the cell phones that the wait to get the luggage and the boarding passes would have been cut by at least 30 minutes. That means a lot to people like you and me.

In my opinion, this technology has allowed us to create and stay in our own little microcosm. It has taken away the need for people to interact personally with people around them and therefore, they do not have any concern for the people around them. I truly believe that those people who were so wrapped up in their conversations, be it business or personal didn’t notice anyone around them. I hope they didn’t notice because if they did notice and chose to ignore them, then we are worse off then I thought.

The story gets better. The plane is starting to board. The airline worker calls for pre-boarding of anyone with a disability. At this point, I would like to commend Southwest Airlines for doing a pre-board for people with disabilities. They asked anyone with a disability to come to the center isle for boarding. Sounds great ha! In theory it was great, if it weren’t for those people who were in their own microcosm. On their cell phones, getting in the way, not even noticing these people in wheelchairs and using canes trying to make their way to the plane to pre-board. I tell you it wasn’t a pretty site. I’m thinking what has this world come to when people aren’t even aware that a person next to them has an infirmity. How could they care if they are not aware? I didn’t even try. I didn’t want the stress. Having a business meeting or talking to their stock- broker instead of having the awareness to simply listen to instructions. Is this what we are becoming? I think so. Eventually, the flight boarded and so did I. I couldn’t wait to sit down.

OK so the flight was uneventful. Phoenix was fine. The tourney was fine. We came in 6^th out of 26 teams. The thing that stands out in my mind the most about the tournament was a dad who was there to watch his son’s game. This man was on the phone the entire game. I mean the entire game. Why bother coming? I couldn’t help but hear what he was saying because he was near me and because he was loud. He was in a business meeting. OK so he was physically present for his son’s game but let’s face it, he wasn’t there. He was conducting business for the entire hour and a half. He was in his own microcosm. His son was an obligatory after thought. The other people in the stands? What other people in the stands? He didn’t notice us. Heck he couldn’t have, if he did, he would have asked himself is he was talking too loud. Right!

Technology is a good thing. It’s wonderful that inventions have made our lives easier. Should we be so bold though to impose our conversations and our lives on other strangers, people we have never met? What happened to privacy? We have a right not to hear other people maneuver through their lives. The gentleman that was on line at the airport gate was dictating orders to his employees. Why should I be subjected to hearing that. I didn’t ask for that stress. I know that some people would say it doesn’t concern you so why does it bother you? That is a very valid question. The answer for me and I believe many other people is that it is stressful enough to make sure that you are on time and doing what’s right for you, we don’t need anybody else’s stress forcibly imposed on us.

One person that I spoke to about this said what bothered her most was the invasion of privacy. She told me of a time that she took her granddaughter out for a quiet lunch so that they could catch up with each other. She described a man at the next table having a business meeting on his cell phone. She described the man as loud and adamant. She was disturbed that her private time with her granddaughter was being invaded. After a couple of minutes of this, she approached the man and informed him that neither her nor anyone else was interested in his business dealings. They simply wanted to enjoy their private lunches. If the call was that important she suggested then he should go out to his car and call or skip lunch. She told the man in no uncertain terms not to infringe on her time. The man got up and left visibly upset.