It’s not even worth mentioning anymore. But I will. We have been slouching toward distraction for years. The zombie parade continues to get worse. People are traversing the landscape with their faces firmly locked into their gadgets of choice. Maddening.

On these beautiful mornings, I see young mothers introducing their newborns to the world while never looking down at their gift. They are Face-timing, texting and gabbing away to beat the band. I see couples taking in the beauty of the Nashua Rail Trail holding hands while listening to music on separate headphones. ??

In the gym yesterday after noon, there was just me and this other guy. He didn’t notice when I came in, and he never saw me leave.

I used to take someone that worked for me out to dinner. He would immediately turn into a potted plant once we were seated. He never looked up. That used to bother me. On a seven hour drive to New Jersey together, I didn’t even know he was in the vehicle. I’m not angry anymore, just sad.

The ubiquitous phone. Hate to generalize, but it appears our tattoo splattered, out of shape, out of attention, out of the loop, society is sleep walking themselves into extinction.

We have become a complacent, distracted bunch. Strike that, you have, not me. I will have none of it. If I didn’t have my driver’s license inserted into the back of my phone, I wouldn’t  bother taking it outside. The big reason is I would need to be identified in case I get run down by a texting driver. Mandatory to think about those things now.

Now we have sleeptexting, brought to you by the makers of Ambien. What’s next?

Bob O’Hearn