Sunday, January 20, 2008

Weighty Problem

I just stepped on the scales. Nearly 17 stone - 5'10" - the numbers don't equate. Its a good job I've got a shrunken head else I'd look really fat. A year ago I was 14 stone and packed with muscle. Then I hurt my shoulder and turned to shit and the scary thing is it didn't take very long.

Last week I've gone back on the weights thinking I'll shed a bit but I've put on 5 pounds. My wife said its because muscle is heavier than fat (I know that), but I didn't tell her that last week I had four business lunches and drank more beer than I've downed in six months.

The Art of Commnication is DEAD!

I started work in 1983. In my office we had dial phones with separate switch boxes (each box had five flick switches with three positions - top/middle and bottom. To make a call you had to flick the switch up to top, to hold a party call to middle and to cut it off, bottom.

My job involved phoning a lot of customers. On average I would get through to eight out of ten people I called directly, without even speaking to a secretary.

As the years went on, we all though answer phones were fantastic - a way to ensure we never missed an important call. Then there was the introduction of voice mail, then mobile phones, texts and of course, email.

But a funny thing has happened. Now that communication is easier than ever before, it is harder than ever to get through to anybody at all. These days, I'm lucky to get through to 1 out of ten customers, and even then I have to wrestle my way through a bank of automated questions and options.

And now I employ youngsters, I've noticed they don't want to engage in conversation on the telephone, preferring to mail or text to ask their questions. The problem is that now, instead of gaining immediate answers to queries, we are waiting for mail recipients to reply, instead of comprehensive explainations, we get 'text speak', that leaved a lot to the imagination.

Communications in the 21st century are the worst I've known, the power of speech and skill of negotiation have disappeared and fewer people than ever even bother to listen to their voice mail, let alone answer it.

Its little wonder people are flocking to myspace and facebook. Holding virtual relationships is a whole lot easier than real life - or is Second Life the way we're all heading? It will be a sad world when socialising means sitting alone at a computer typing messages and posting picture.

Oh, I forgot, its Sunday evening. I'm sat alone in the study on the computer typing messages. What a sad world its become!