A disturbing trend in social relations has taken a turn for the worse since the mass adoption of smartphones in America. Yes, parents are perpetually ignoring their kids in favor of the tiny electronic devices, but even worse is the near extinction of useless talk previous held between strangers on elevators.
Psychologist Bruce Langley says that before the widespread adoption of smartphones, most people would enter an elevator and smile, nod, or say, “hey,” and then say something like “That’s some weather we’re having, huh?” or “Hot enough for you out there?” before then staring uncomfortably at the door or elevator buttons for the remainder of the trip. But that extensive exchange of ideas amongst fellow men and women is alarmingly becoming a thing of the past. Now most people will only do the smile or “hey,” with possibly a “What floor can I get for you?” tossed in for good measure before immersing themselves back into their digital devices.
Langley believes that while these developments may seem troubling, he welcomes the proliferation of personal communication devices, because before their advent and the subsequent social issues that they’ve created, nobody cared what psychologists thought about anything.
What will this do to the elevator pitch? Whole careers hang in the balance!
You can still say, “Say, isn’t that a IPed 7.2?” And the stranger ripostes with “Yes, it is.” Elevator conversation is not yet dead. 🙂
People don’t like to los their space nor do they like to be forced into conversations. What happens when there is no signal? uh oh
I say “thank God.” Mostly because my attempts at elevator small talk are usually obtuse and frequently misunderstood.
A lot of people still don’t care what psychologists think.