Here you sit in the basement cafeteria of a quite prestigious management school.You're a blond girl, you're pretty - so you've been told by your mother.
Yet nobody seems to notice you. Nobody wants to come talk. Future managers are social, friend, enthusiastic, full of life, unplugged and eager to hold a decent, interesting conversation. Yeah, I don't think so. These managers only know how to manage their computers... perhaps their phones too.
Think about it, you're a new student to this university. You don't know anyone, but you're so full of energy that your biggest fear isn't talking to people, it's looking like a creep. So you sit at your table, eating, hoping for someone to strike an interesting conversation. You look around, everybody has an Apple. I swear if the electricity went out there would still be enough lite from those faintly lit apples. Monkey sees, monkey does, you open your laptop and stare at some more useless videos on Youtube. Or perhaps you prefer scrolling endlessly through your Facebook newsfeed, looking at post that you've already seen by people you don't care about? It doesn't matter, since everybody is doing it, right? Right?
When you read books... No, who the hell reads books in this damn age? When you watch movies that star people in universities going to clubs, having debates in the cafeteria, going out, meeting each other, it creates an expectation. Anyone that went to University knows that isn't actually the case. Especially if you switch programs a lot. You don't know anyone in the classroom and you don't try to meet people. Why? Because you already have other friends. You can just wait a few hours and see them on their break. If your friends don't have a break at the same time, you think, good, I'll do some homework. You go an you isolate yourself from the rest of the world. Maybe you actually do homework, I don't know. But what I do know is that it would be different.
If Universities had a rule that cafeterias would become technology free zones, there would be conversations. Perhaps, the first topic would be how unfair and unjust this decision of removing the WiFi is. But that won't last long. I'm confident enough that students will take a liking in such places where you can talk to anyone - about anything. One of my friends asked me "don't you think they just won't use the WiFi? They might just read a book or eat lunch in silence..." To that I say no. Modern humans have an attention spawn lower than the one of a goldfish. They simply won't be able to focus on just food. They will talk. All over town, WiFi-free coffee shops are opening and guess what - they are quite successful!
"Okay, what about lonely people? Those that don't want to talk to anyone, those that are contempt with their current acquaintances?", insisted my friend. I must say, if you're not interested in people, perhaps the place you're looking for isn't a cafeteria? Perhaps you'd be happier in a library or any regular coffee shop (for those white noise lovers).
A cafeteria used to be a place of socializing which is a skill generation Y and Millennials are currently loosing. We adopt techn
ology that claims to connect us, yet it only increases distances between us. I don't see that pretty blonde girl, I don't go sit down and talk to her; I am too busy writing a rant on my blog, I too, am guilty.
Think about it, you're a new student to this university. You don't know anyone, but you're so full of energy that your biggest fear isn't talking to people, it's looking like a creep. So you sit at your table, eating, hoping for someone to strike an interesting conversation. You look around, everybody has an Apple. I swear if the electricity went out there would still be enough lite from those faintly lit apples. Monkey sees, monkey does, you open your laptop and stare at some more useless videos on Youtube. Or perhaps you prefer scrolling endlessly through your Facebook newsfeed, looking at post that you've already seen by people you don't care about? It doesn't matter, since everybody is doing it, right? Right?
When you read books... No, who the hell reads books in this damn age? When you watch movies that star people in universities going to clubs, having debates in the cafeteria, going out, meeting each other, it creates an expectation. Anyone that went to University knows that isn't actually the case. Especially if you switch programs a lot. You don't know anyone in the classroom and you don't try to meet people. Why? Because you already have other friends. You can just wait a few hours and see them on their break. If your friends don't have a break at the same time, you think, good, I'll do some homework. You go an you isolate yourself from the rest of the world. Maybe you actually do homework, I don't know. But what I do know is that it would be different.
If Universities had a rule that cafeterias would become technology free zones, there would be conversations. Perhaps, the first topic would be how unfair and unjust this decision of removing the WiFi is. But that won't last long. I'm confident enough that students will take a liking in such places where you can talk to anyone - about anything. One of my friends asked me "don't you think they just won't use the WiFi? They might just read a book or eat lunch in silence..." To that I say no. Modern humans have an attention spawn lower than the one of a goldfish. They simply won't be able to focus on just food. They will talk. All over town, WiFi-free coffee shops are opening and guess what - they are quite successful!
"Okay, what about lonely people? Those that don't want to talk to anyone, those that are contempt with their current acquaintances?", insisted my friend. I must say, if you're not interested in people, perhaps the place you're looking for isn't a cafeteria? Perhaps you'd be happier in a library or any regular coffee shop (for those white noise lovers).A cafeteria used to be a place of socializing which is a skill generation Y and Millennials are currently loosing. We adopt techn
ology that claims to connect us, yet it only increases distances between us. I don't see that pretty blonde girl, I don't go sit down and talk to her; I am too busy writing a rant on my blog, I too, am guilty.
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