Dear Tell All: I drive down East Washington Avenue and see a car weaving erratically between lanes. Sure enough, as I pass I see the young driver talking on her cellphone rather than keeping her eye on the road.
I walk down State Street and get bumped into by UW-Madison students who are too busy texting to see someone in their path.
I go to a movie at Point and see teenagers checking their messages rather than paying attention to the screen.
How did things get this bad with the younger generation? When I was at UW-Madison in the 1960s and early ‘70s, peace and love were in the air. People made connections with each other. Idealistic politicians like Eugene McCarthy pointed toward a better world, as did nonviolent protesters. The Woodstock music festival summed up the spirit of the times with its communal values.
Today, the spirit of the times is summed up by a self-obsessed college student glued to his cellphone, oblivious of everyone around him.
Hippie
Dear Hippie: You can’t blame new technology for human idiocy. It’s been with us since we came out of the trees. And let’s give cellphones the credit they deserve: It’s a modern miracle that we can contact anyone from anywhere, and at any time. I’d argue that their benefits far outweigh the problems they cause.
You offer a wide-ranging critique of modern life, Hippie, and I can’t help thinking you’re glamorizing the 1960s and early ‘70s. It’s true that there were a lot of songs about peace and love in those days, but were people really any different? For every idealistic Woodstock music festival, there was a cynical Altamont music festival. For every idealistic Eugene McCarthy, there was an opportunistic Jerry Rubin. For every nonviolent protest, there was a fanatical bombing — even here in your utopian Madison.
I’m not defending those who are obsessed with their cellphones. I’m just pointing out that it’s a silly sign of the times, just as flower-power affectations were a silly sign of the times in the 1960s and early ‘70s.
The fact is, young people are no better or worse now than they were in your youth. They’re just easier to get ahold of.
Do you have a question about life or love in Madison?
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