Thinking I’d have enough free time today to get some tax work started, another job was handed off to me early this morning which was much more time consuming than most in the general public would think. By the time I was finished with my written report on a home’s value along with accompanying support documents, I found that three or four hours of my day had suddenly slipped away. When I delivered the report to the one requesting it, she looked at it and said, “Wow! That was quick.” I smiled and said, “You of all people know how much I don’t like having others waiting for something I’m supposed to do, so with me, it’s better to get at it more sooner than later.”
With it being such an overcast day, a customer of mine decided he wanted some photos taken of the inside and outside of his home. “Are you sure you want them taken on such a dreary day?” I asked. I guess the weather had nothing to do with what he wanted, so off I went with camera in hand. The exterior shots certainly gave the home a misty gray appearance, but that’s what he must’ve been after, so I downloaded them and off they went in an email.
Something happened today that was another confirmation of what’s been printed about the side-effects of being continually distracted by many of our younger generation’s obsession with social media. While I was walking down to Southbridge Mall, I happened to see a young man whom I’ve spoken with at least three times up until he moved out of the Downtown area about a year ago. I walked up to him and asked how things were going and where he’d moved to, along with those other normal social inquiries. He finally looked at me and said, “You look familiar, but I can’t remember your name or where you work.”
After giving him several instances of things we talked about, along with where he was from and what his parents did for a living, he still couldn’t remember those instances. I finally said to him, “I’ve never expected to make such memorable impressions on people, but I guess I’m becoming all the more forgettable and possibly invisible.” His response was something like, “Not to worry, I just talk to a lot of people and can’t remember all of them.” Ouch!
After a few more words, we bid each other farewell, but while walking back to my office, I was still in a bit of shock that he’d not remembered at least one of our conversations. Now if that sort of memory loss is truly one of the end products of social media’s addictions, I’d say we’re all in for a wild ride on a headless steed in years to come.
In truth, I’ve noticed this same thing happening with others who’re more familiar and a generation or so below, and going into a bit of denial thinking it was just my expecting them to have a memory of happenings similar to mine. In truth, my memory is not that acute, but it appears to be razor sharp with others because theirs are diminishing at an accelerated pace.
I’ll always remember those times when my dear grandmother used to speak more kindly about this or that person “getting funny” when finding they were forgetting names of people, places, or things that should have been branded in their memories. Looks like our digital age is creating some visible side-effects with our young. When would you think it’s time to go for help?
