We are very technological in our lifestyle.  We are on smart phones, computers,  etc.  We text.  We send emails.  We avoid conversations.

What concerns me most is the discovery that younger people are not learning to talk to people face to face or voice to voice.  Messages are sent.  We avoid expressing ourselves directly and we avoid having to respond quickly.  Our anxiety levels are lower when we communicate our thoughts and feelings indirectly.

We also fail to learn body language.  To be able to visualize a facial expression and watch gestures often discloses a lot.

A woman told me about having lunch with a group of people and one of the women made a comment that was racist and anti-Semitic. She made the decision to not confront the woman in front of everyone and decided to call her after the lunch.  As the lunch ended, she asked another attendee of color if she was bothered by the comment.  The person said she had not heard the comment, but she asked, “Do you intend to send her an email?” The woman responded, “That would be too easy for both of us.  I could more easily confront her by message and she would not have to respond on the spot.  I will call instead.  It feels scarier, but I prefer not to avoid the feelings.”

She did, and the woman she called seemed to be uncomfortable about being told her comment was not appreciated.  She chose to say she did not mean to be insulting.

Perhaps she learned something.