Because this epidemic fever seems to be the cause of an even harsher illness.
And before I get any more cryptic and metaphorical, I shall shed some light on that of which I speak.
Everyone seems to be catching cell phone fever. They say it makes them "feel human" again. Which I guess I can slightly understand since retail therapy has the magic powers of making me feel human again.
Which might be a contributing factor to why I'm broke.
And speaking of "Human Again", I'll never forget when my friend Kevin's cute-as-a-button nephew came to see Beauty and the Beast at the Barn Theatre in Michigan, and when queried about my amazing turn as the one and only knife (there were two forks and two spoons), his reply to me was, "the knife was alright". In the honest, sardonic way only a 5 year old can deliver.
Of course maybe his reply had to do with the fact that my right leg was clothed in fuchsia tights, while my left leg was covered in baggy, shiny gold furniture fabric and I had a giant knife hat that made me 8 feet tall. Someday I'll get my revenge...
Anyway, cell phone fever has led to an epidemic of rudeness!
And the ironic thing is that I would probably have no awareness of the bad cellphone etiquette (aka rudeness) were I not living in Japan sans cellphone.
Because, see, well, despite my friend Christine's protests to the contrary, I LOVE not having a cellphone here. I am not tied down.
There's even this thing that I do called "checking my email" from my laptop (WOW!) when I get home.
I can't update my facebook status every 5 minutes. I can't passive-agressively twitter.
Instead, I talk to the people around me at all times. I take in the sights and sounds of wherever I may be. I've never been a person who always has his iPod in his ears because I don't like having a soundtrack to my life. And since I've never been the best multi-tasker, I listen and observe more (which is helpful seeing as how I'm in a foreign country). No one can bug me when I'm out and about, and I don't find myself checking my screen to see if anyone "loves" me.
And yes, sometimes it is difficult that I can't just text/call someone to make dinner plans. So I do so days in advance; I set a meeting time and place via email, and guess what?! I show up when I said I would, and I don't have to worry that someone's going to cancel or change the plan last minute via text message.
It's honestly kind of blissful.
So, it came as quite a shock to me after 3 months in this country of wonderful cellphone etiquette (they don't talk while walking, they don't talk on the train, their phones are always on vibrate) when two nights in a row this week, I was having dinner or one-on-one time with a friend, and my presence was minimalized.
And not just for 5 seconds.
No I am talking about 15 or 20 minutes where I just disappeared.
I was REPLACED. By a little device.
Because said cell phone and email and "connectedness" trumped the fact that I was sitting across the table from my friend offering a real, live, breathing human with whom to converse. And so, off each one went to check his email and talk to someone else also probably ignoring face-to-face conversation for his/her cell.
And now my bad cell behavior back in the States is glaringly obvious! There wasn't a meal that would go by that my cell wasn't out on the table by my plate. How many times did I pause a conversation to reply to the "beep" from my phone?
That's just heinous.
And so, I find myself thankful. I haven't caught cellphone fever and succumbed to bad manners. And I don't want to.
I'm going to spend the next 5 months here enjoying my days without text messages, email, phone calls, or constant connection. Because the here and now, the people before me, the nature I explore, the sound of Japanese conversation... those are my real life.
They're happening all around me, and I'm so glad I'm experiencing it.
I just hope my friends can put down the phone and chat with the person in front of them again, as the Japanese are polite enough to do. Cuz it's lonely when you've been ditched.
Especially for a 10,000 yen gadget.
