Unplug yourself for a second...

The other day I found myself making my way home and I stopped in to a little coffee shop to grab some sort of overpriced dessert. Directly in front of me in line was a very attractive and interesting-looking young woman who looked roughly my age.

As a young single male, my eyes are always open for opportunities to meet interesting women in Peterborough. Just as I had established myself in line, this really crazy guy started yelling as he left the shop. Everyone started laughing and I figured this would be a perfect chance to break the ice with this girl in a public setting.

As I turned to joke with her, I realized she was wearing headphones and listening to her iPOD. She hadn't even noticed that this guy had done anything. Lame. It would be super uncool and awkward to distract her from her music to joke about something that she wasn't even aware existed.

Strangely enough, such a thing happened earlier in the day while walking through the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The Darwin exhibit was on and I went with members of my family, who predictably fell behind. I noticed a cute young woman who was checking out the exhibit and quickly realized she had come by herself.

How cool is that? A young attractive girl who goes to the Darwin Exhibit by herself? What a perfect combo. But much to my chagrin, she also had headphones in. I briefly thought it might be one of those audio guides you can get at museums, but then the iPod showed up. Dang.

One friend of mine thought that they might all have boyfriends (or girlfriends) and this may be a form of deterrent. That had crossed my mind, but it would seem to be a rather extreme form of deterrent.

It wouldn't surprise me though. In a much broader context, it's clear that the whole world is gradually plugging itself in and in the process shutting itself off from normal social interactions.

I used to have an iPod and I must admit I really loved it. It came in handy for running, travelling and getting hyped up before volleyball games. But then the battery got messed up and I've been far too lazy to get it fixed.

I don't want to sound corny here, but over time I have noticed that it is much nicer to enjoy whatever sounds the world gives you. Nothing is quite as nice as walking down the street and smiling at someone or saying hi and maybe even having a brief conversation. Then of course there are the infinite wonderful noises that nature and the outside world can throw your way.

Headphones shut people off from this. It's sad to be walking down the street and walk past someone with their headphones in who doesn't even glance at you, let alone smile or say hi. I'm even starting to find this in the older generation.

It's a real shame.

And text messaging on cell phones is just as bad. At least if you're talking on it you're probably talking to a real person on the other end, rather than selfishly indulging yourself and cutting yourself off from outside contact.

Open up people! We'll all be better off, especially poor schmucks like myself that can't seem to find a girlfriend....