Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Connected or Disconnected?

This post was written by a friend of mine, S.

Ever thought about what it means to connect? To disconnect?

I learned today what it means, or rather, how far from connection we are, on King's Highway.
According to ''dictionary.com'' (how connected we are-online dictionary), connection means:
"A relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else"
or
"The action of linking one thing with another: "connection to the Internet".
Note the "connection to the internet"


We've become so plugged in that we've unplugged ourselves.
So connected, that we've disconnected. Instead of a person, we're a number. Only it's a number different than those our parents associated with. Instead, it's a number we've branded ourselves with.

So what happened on King's Highway today?

There was an earthquake in Virginia today. The shocks spread far and I felt it in Brooklyn. I walked out of my office building a little later and found King's Highway going crazy. I guess the cell phone towers shook also, or the networks were overloaded...not sure what, but a lot of cell phones weren't working properly. I saw people shaking them, flipping them open and shut, and smart me decided to walk into the cell phone store to take care of a different problem and met many people there complaining of no service.

What defined our world's craziness was the comment from the lady behind the counter. we were talking about the earthquake in general and where we were, when she suddenly commented:
"I felt nothing. I was in the nail salon when everyone was screaming and running out. I was just busy on my phone. I felt no floor moving and saw no walls shaking. I thought they all was crazy!"
We're so busy being occupied that we've become too preoccupied to be occupied.
So busy trying to talk the raid that we miss it as it just moves on past us.

I always wondered what would happen if cell phones would stop working. I think the world would go crazy. The problem is I don't have to think it. I know it already from the comments I overheard:
"They make it as if the world is going to end."
"They're going crazy."
"The people can't handle it."
"What is everyone going to do?"

And finally, I saw the woman on the payphone.

You're all either thinking "So not a big deal," or clutching your phones and checking it, thinking "I could never handle it."

Try it.



To sign up, go to
daytodisconnect.com.

4 comments:

  1. So true! We gotta disconnect from technology to really connect to someone else for real!!! With 2 ears, and 2 eyes and a full head and heart!!! and that's called REALLY connecting and REALLY listening! It's so much more relaxing and peaceful when a person is away from technology. You get time to breathe and give of yourself for real and not busy doing a million other stuff!!!
    Thanx for sharing!!!!

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  2. I thinks its so amazing and powerful I decided to disconnect for 12 hours why 12 because ill be in Seminary in Israel so why not disconnect on that day. Its a perfect time to spend on a this fast day and this can make us think well why are we fasting whats the point in all this any way. I thank you for posting this on the blog because its really important that people get this message and that it gets across to every one.

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  3. it is very important!!! it's crazy how tied up we got in our technology....

    rivky-so true! it's definitely more relaxing and peaceful without the constant buzz and ring. signed up?

    rivka-good for you! 12 hours is AWESUM and enjoy your year in seminary!!


    anyone else signed up?

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  4. wow!i never thought of it like that...this clip rabbi walerstein showed at the end of his speech on tishabouv...he spoke about cell phones...

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