Observation: Has Technology Made Our Society Flaky? By Allan Raible

If I had to guess, I would estimate that nine out of the ten most recent appointments I had with friends were rescheduled.  And they weren’t just rescheduled.  They were rescheduled at the last minute.  Often times this warning would come via a text message or an email that would read some to the effect of, “Sorry, man.”  Have other people noticed this trend?  Is it just me?  Do I surround myself with people who can’t stick to plans?  I actually wouldn’t put the blame on my friends.  I put the blame on technology. 

Thirty years ago, before cell-phones and the Internet became chic and ubiquitous, when you made an appointment, there was pretty much one way to get in contact with someone if you wanted to cancel.  That method was the old, reliable landline.  Of course, your friend would have to be home to receive the message and if your friend wasn’t home, you’d have to leave a message, most likely on a clunky cassette.  For this reason, people probably stuck to their schedules more often than they do today. 

Lately, I’ve had friends reschedule on me left and right.  I’ve had women reschedule dates.  I’ve had business contacts reschedule meetings.  It’s almost as if nothing happens when it originally is supposed to anymore.  I wake up on the day I am supposed to meet with someone and I think, “Well, I wonder if that’s ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN.” 

Again, although I rarely reschedule MY appointments I find myself constantly rearranging my schedule to suit others.  That is frustrating, but a part of life I have accepted.  Now, with social media, people being able to reach us on cell phones 24/7 and the increasing size of the average work-week due to routine corporate downsizing, we are all stretched too thin.  We’ve lost the buffer of humanity that we once had.  And technology has made it easier to blow off our appointments.  If you have the mild inkling of not wanting to do something, you can now put a stop to it with a handful of keystrokes.  Lickety-split!  SEND!  DONE!

Again, this is probably a society-wide issue.  And if you are a friend of mine who has recently rescheduled on me, who is reading this, I don’t blame you.  It is part of a wider problem.  We are all pulled in too many directions these days.  There isn’t enough time to enjoy life.  There isn’t enough room in our heads for cherished memories because we have too many damn passwords to remember.  We have too many responsibilities.  We have too many commitments.  We are in a constant state of flux.

I miss the days of being able to just nicely have lunch with an old friend without having to reschedule five times.  I miss not having to rush through a date because we both have so many things to do.  I miss old friends I haven’t seen in years.  I miss spending whole days just relaxing with people I care about.  But, we are all so oversaturated and overstressed that those little personal connections have suffered in the process. 

The convenience technology has afforded us is priceless, but it has cost us a bit of stress in our interpersonal relationships.  We have bitten off more than we can chew and somehow this has become the societal norm.  This has inadvertently turned most of us into noncommittal, flakes.  Again, we don’t mean to hurt each other this way, but it is a given and has now become the standard. 

I miss the days of concrete plans!