What Do You Consider an Emergency?
It was a rainy afternoon in Northeast Philadelphia, I was having a chat with another
person and my phone rang. I first apologized, and then reached in my pocket to grab the phone. I said, “My apologies. I did not realize I left the ringer on.” I placed the phone on vibrate and placed the phone back in my pocket. Shortly thereafter the other person's phone started chirping. This person reached over to grab their phone, glanced at it and said, “Hold on I have to answer this email.” Was it an emergency? Well telling from the body language and the smirk, I'd say not. Maybe I set myself up for a bit of disappointment expecting the same courtesy from others...and I did set myself up.
What has happened to our society? Are we expected to respond to emails and 9:30 pm phone calls at the moment? Is there a purpose for emails and voice mails to respond to later? Have we really narrowed our mindset to the here and now? What has happened to the enjoy the moment?
Have you ever noticed when you attend a play, and all the phones and camcorders in the air? Everyone looking through the small screen, and not paying attention to the bigger picture. Have we become so focused on the small things, that when something that is an emergency happens, it becomes an international incident.
Maybe I am old school...so be it, however, an emergency is, the house is up in flames, someone is heading to the ER, or something tragic has happened. Answering emails in the moment, Social Media, or calling at odd hours to answer “YOUR” question is not an emergency. There are times and places for “things,” “distractors.” or the “emotional” moments. Take time and just sit back and analyze where the day is going, your life, your family, and turn everything off for just one hour. Stop yourself when that phone rings or the email notification goes off. I mean seriously, what do you consider an “Emergency?”
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