At the end of a blustery four-hour journey today, back from holiday, I squashed onto a packed commuter train; then gained great popularity by squeezing in a rucksac, suitcase and giant box of Lego with me. (More about the Lego in another blog...) As the train pottered along, people got off at each spot while others vied for their seats. Eventually there was only me left standing - my precarious pile of luggage wedged vertical(ish) with my knee - and that's when I saw them.
A twenty-something, who had been sitting for a while, saw a space open up opposite. She called to her boyfriend to come and sit down, but he didn't hear her - engrossed as he was in his iPhone. He was about ten feet away - but neither heard nor saw her beckoning signals. So what did she do? Shout louder? Pop over and get him? No, she sent him a text to tell him about the spare seat.
My initial thought was: "Isn't that just typical of the younger generation - too lazy to walk ten feet to speak to someone. There must be some deep moral there." But then I tried looking at it from another angle. Faced with a problem, the young woman had come up with an effective answer. She spotted where the bloke's attention was focused, and used it to her advantage. She wasn't being lazy - but ingenious. And I berated myself for making generalisations about the younger generation.
So taken with this scenario was I - and my thoughts on the implications - that I almost forgot to get off at my own stop. Which, of course, is just typical of my generation!
No comments:
Post a Comment