Has Modern Technology Made Dealing With Others A Lost Art?

Do you prefer emailing or texting to talking on the phone or face to face conversation? Are you petrified of speaking to a member of the opposite sex at a social function, hence, loathe to attend, albeit it’s free and in your neighborhood?

Presumably the digital age has brought us closer together with an array of unlimited forms of communication. Yet it seems more couples are farther apart physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Has interpersonal relating become obsolete? 

Many singles spend a majority of their spare moments online. They often play group games, e.g. scrabble, monopoly, and chess, with their computers, rather than other human beings. It’s an era where Hal is not only your closest cohort (reference to Kubrick’s classic film “2001: A Space Odyssey”) but may be your only intimate contact. 

Sexting has become rampant with real time romance taking a backdoor as possible pairings prefer to email or text.  Guys/gals complain that after many months of a simulated relationship via the internet, their significant other breaks up with them through a text message.  

This is just as humiliating as the infamous fiasco in the Sex and the City episode where Carrie’s beau ends their liaison via a sticky note.

Although dating on the web has become an acceptable form of connecting, where has chivalry and gallantry gone?  What happened to plain and simple, old fashioned, amorous gestures such as hugs, kisses, snuggling, nuzzling?

When you finally collect the courage to meet in the flesh, have you typically forgotten how to converse, lacking the requisite manners, thoughtfulness, politeness, consideration, gentility, courtesy?

Are you out of practice when it comes to long term involvements, without a clue as how to express yourself with honesty, tact, insight, discernment? Do your verbal skills leave a lot to be desired or are practically nil? 

I pose the question: Are you entirely engaged or so utterly separated, you don’t realize the distance between you and others has actually increased two fold? Is isolation your new norm, personal exchange completely uncharacteristic?   

Do you deem talking on the phone a scary concept? Are you more content emailing ad infinitum? Are your one-on-one trysts few and far between? Do you hyperventilate or break out in hives when you have to convene in the flesh?

Do you abhore leaving the illusive safety of your cubicle come hell or high water? Do you reminisce about how you used to congregate at the market, cleaners, car wash, bowling alley, local pub, or drugstore?

Are you too busy in cyberspace, on your cell, hooked up to your bluetooth, listening to music on your ipod, or sufficiently preoccupied in techno land, that you wouldn’t notice a prospective partner, if he/she was standing right in front of you?

It’s a sad state of affairs for those who want to establish a serious, sustained, ardent, affectionate union. Can you ever be privy to your intended’s essence if you have ample anxiety when interacting in person? 

How can you bond, empathize, understand, and collaborate - essential keys to a “happily ever after”- if you don’t have the opportunity to practice these abilities, learning from trial and error?

Have we created a world of avoidance and superficiality, while pretending we’re linking up and associating on deeper levels? Are more people detached and cut off from the sunlight of the spirit? 

If we aim to come together, merge as a nation, fuse as a society, unify as a species, then why and how has the opposite come to pass?

Numerous unattached adults have developed into withdrawn and fearful personalities, unaccustomed to merging and mixing with others. 

A majority are awkward and embarrassed when having to interact and articulate. Verbal skills are almost obsolete, let alone congregating to join souls and psyches, celebrating our uniqueness and individuality.

It’s a novelty to share nose to nose for more than three minutes. Striking up conversation in public arenas has become a thing of the past. We may soon become no different than fellow animals who grunt and chirp or gawk and grumble.  

As social creatures, our best moments take form after shedding the multiple layers of suppression, deeply embedded by our upbringing and history/herstory. 

Allowing yourself the invaluable gift of presenting a genuine vulnerability in front of your prospective or precious is priceless. Sadly, however, such treasured experiences are hard to attain without concerted effort.  

This Saturday, September 14th, at Wendell Baker’s Enchanting Night of the Tiki Party, is the perfect occasion to hone your flair for communicating head to head, with like minded classy, chic, charming, captivating, sophisticated, stylish, sexy singles.

Don’t miss this delightful, enthralling gig at Wendell’s welcoming abode, 19523 Strathern, Reseda, CA 91335, 818-993-9584.

Instead of spending Saturday night caressing and fondling your favorite electronic toy, you can be cuddling, clinching, and embracing a new sweetheart.

For those of the Jewish faith, do not fret, as Yom Kippur ends at sundown. Therefore, this is a superb soiree at which to break the fast, while simultaneously sharpening your aptitude for touching and being touched by the man/woman of your dreams!

If you’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places, this is positively the most optimum space to attract Mr./Ms. Right, i.e. outdoors on a moonlit evening surrounded by an authentic Tiki Village decorated to the hilt.

You’ll find fine fare from 8:30-10:30p; an open Tiki bar; a live band on a Tiki stage; a fabulous fire show; a Tiki Vendor showcasing cool Tiki items for sale (cash only); incredible dancing to super sizzling hot DJ Dave Waterbury’s rockin’ and rollin’ nonstop tunes and dazzling light show.

All for the reasonable cover charge of $25 cash at the door, plus hundreds of eligible bachelors/bachelorettes to sweep you off the dance floor, schmooze with under the stars, and hopefully follow through for an exciting rendezvous, resulting in some smooth, charming, chivalrous courting.

Network, create surprise ventures, discover lifelong friendships, whatever tickles your fancy.

Wendell’s extraordinary embellishments are sure to put you in the mood for a tropical tete a tete. You’ll feel like you’ve been transported to an exotic island, causing your heart to pitter patter as your prime match catches your eye across the crowded room.

You may hear sounds of Bali Hai, echoing in your brain, as you reminisce about days of yore and relish in fond memories.  You might start singing the familiar lyrics,  “…Happy Happy Happy Happy talk, talk about things you like to do, talk about the sun, talk about the moon, talk about dreams come true…”  

Leaving your four walls and electronics behind, you’ll be amazed at a whole new world of connecting, communing with nature and the one you’re passionately enamored by. You’ll realize how much better it can be than staying solo and incommunicado, confirming what A. A. Milne comprehended: “It’s much more friendlier with two.”