. . . and the decline of western civilization1

Today I begin a new post series: . . . and the decline of western civilization.  This will be an attempt to identify and target those areas of our culture which are clearly contributing to our complete failure.  For example, we could easily examine "The Cessation of McDonald's Deep Fried Apple Pies and the Decline of Western Civilization."  Such is the making of some incredible dissertations.

To begin, I offer: "Bluetooth Headsets and the Decline of Western Civilization."

Allow me to say that, although these devices have proven to be quite useful in both convenience and safety, they are incredibly annoying and are presently chipping away at our culture just like other incredibly annoying objects which presently chip away at our culture (try to keep up, kids).  When the headset for cellphones first emerged I could never figure out when someone was speaking to me and when they were jabbering away on one of these things.  I would hear somebody talking, would in turn respond, and garner for myself a dirty look or an annoyed, "I'm on the phone."  As though I'm supposed to tell the difference when the concept behind these earpieces is to make them as discrete as possible.

Tonight as I walked the streets of Boston (coming from the largest North American AppleStore, no less), there was a man who was walking towards me with a bluetooth hanging from his ear.  He was asking some kind of question and I, conditioned as I am to this culture, politely ignored him and walked on.  He then muttered something about how I wasn't responding to him and walked away in a semi-frenzy.  Now, come on!

And you can see how this is going to tear away at the fabric of western civilization, for now when we have people who can't normally communicate with one another trying to break through such barriers with the added pressure of having no clue that they are trying to talk to each other. . .all could very well be lost.