Rant: ish

We are turning into the world of the “ish”.

“What time will I meet you?”
“Let’s see… I can make it by 2…ish. I’ll call you.”

It’s all so approximate. You never quite know when anything is going to happen. I blame it on cell phones. Before mobile technology, you had to be on time, so you’d plan your day with enough time to get places. Now, we’re always calling or texting, “On my way”, “Will be five minutes late”, “Stuck in traffic”. The cell phone is an excuse for putting far too many activities into your day – because even if you get behind you can always let people know.

I feel sorry for the few people who get there on time. You then have to relay the messages: “John’s running late”, “Kate might not make it”, “Susan will be here soon” and twiddle your thumbs while the “ish”s to turn up.

I think it would be a very freeing exercise to leave the cell phone at home for the day, or even for the week. You can only be contacted when you’re in the office. You can only schedule so many things, because you have to be on time. Maybe you’ll even be early!

Imagine going on holiday and not being able to check your messages – even personal ones. Could you handle being in complete isolation? Isn’t that what holidays used to be about? We’re so afraid we’ll miss something, or be “out of the loop”. In truth, constantly being in so many loops can get exhausting.

Remember when we weren’t always talking to people all day, we’d actually have things to catch up on face to face. A little mystery in life. Wouldn’t that be nice?