THE LAST SAMURAI ( i mean SOCIAL GUY)

I find myself in what I truly hope is the tail end of this Pandemic. I am about to finish some online classes and I’m still reluctant to pursue international travel.

During all this, I am once again reminded of where it seems our society is headed, Being inclined to get through a day without connecting with others. Now, although I do think my current physique allows for it, sadly I admit I’m not a Samurai, but I do think I might be a very social guy. For one, I’m not a fan of online classes. One of the best parts of my original college experience was getting to meet the profs and other students. I also don’t think the absorption of materials is the same for the online experience. Is there any reason online classes aren’t discounted? You have my vote if you also think they should be.

The number of deaths that occurred was by far the worst part of this pandemic. I am thankful for not having lost anyone in my family to this horrible virus. Another repercussion from this is I think it has taught us all how to live in seclusion and I worry that we will continue to move in this direction as a society, this being the topic of this post. As I sit here staring into this mobile device of mine, full of alerts from those I keep up with I realize it is not the same as having them in the same room with me. Seeing the clothes they wear, the expressions on their faces, and the tones of their voices. As I overcome the urge to throw my phone off a bridge, I do realize that receiving many texts a day isn’t the same as getting to spend quality time with these people.

The best part of my job, to me, is meeting people who are vastly different than myself. Getting to hear about their career stories, meet their families, and in the good cases reassuring them that they are going to be ok is an honor I have working in healthcare. I enjoy the social nature of these interactions, I guess I’m just a social guy. But I have this anxiety that we are moving closer and closer to a world dependent on coining dope one-liners for online dating sites and work from home(WFH) job titles. Where all shopping is done online and we have little need to actually leave our homes.

I realize I’m not the first person to wrap my brain around this topic. I also realize that successful people adapt to a changing world. The world around us is dynamic as hell and we either accept it or fall behind. But humans are cool to talk to and I hope we don’t move further away from being able to socialize with one another to a pre-pandemic degree. Or maybe this is just failing to adapt here and a WFH world is simply more efficient. By taking many of those out of the office who once sat around the coffee machine gossiping about “who stole the stapler” or "why Becky always complains about the temperature" and putting them at home they have less distraction. Maybe it's better that way?

My current goal is to turn off as many push alerts on my phone as possible. To focus more on those humans I have in front of me and less on those on my screen. But my question for you is, do you agree? Do you think the current trend makes for a more efficient way of life? Does socializing get in the way of productivity? Is this social guy just failing to adapt? And who the hell took the stapler from the nurses' station because I really needed it during my last shift?