The lost art of conversation

[TheAverageJoanne]

Or maybe they never had the art in the first place.

I just got off a tram. There were two young women about 16/17 sitting across from me who looked from their body language like they were travelling together. For the whole of the 30 minutes they never spoke a word to each other, just stared at their phones.

I found it so sad.

I'm not sure public transport is the best example. I don't use my phone much at all but on public transport I usually like to sit and gaze out of the window rather than chat. The 'limbo' of a journey creates a clear space in my head to think without other tasks and activities crowding out what I want to think about. That doesn't mean I have lost the ability to have a conversation.

See I can sit in silence for hours, always have even before mobile phones. Some people aren't chatty, in fact I find conversation tiring. Not everyone enjoys talking.

Not sure where you are but in my world public transport isn’t the place for conversations. The rules (particularly for the tube but also for buses and trains) are shut up and if you have to talk do do quietly

No, I understand what you mean, but I'd find it very hard to travel with a friend and not speak to them, or fiddle with my phone for that length of time whilst with them.

Maybe they’ve been talking to each other all day?

What about middle aged people who sit at dinner not saying a word to each other? Quite common to see couples either sitting staring into space or looking at their phones. Not sure it’s a teen thing eh?

What if they had been reading a book? Would you still have judged them for not talking to each other?

I travelled to work with a friend this morning by train. We both put our headphones on and didn't talk. What people wouldn't have seen was us talking all day yesterday, all of last night and the majority of today. Sometimes you don't want to endlessly talk. You have no idea of their circumstances