Let’s start talking again

Smartphones and technology, as we’ve mentioned before, are stopping us talking to each other. My nephew looked at me in horror at the weekend after I told him that he’d have to actually talk to another human being in order to approve the Apple Pay connection to his bank card.

Can’t I push some buttons instead?

Nope. Some things, thankfully, still involve a real and personal bit of contact. The list, though, is growing smaller each day, and I’ve already mentioned how I could spend an entire day shopping, eating, banking and buying petrol – all without interacting with anyone else. It’s only the local chip shop and barbers where I’m not using a self-serve machine or tapping my card against a payment terminal.

In part this has all increased the amount of loneliness in this country. There are nine million lonely people in the UK and four million of them are older people. Sending a text or a funny emoji isn’t enough. We need to talk to each other, properly. With everything that’s happening with Brexit and politics right now, it just shows the distrust and disagreement that can build up if we don’t talk properly with our fellow man – whether it be in this country or abroad.

We’re all the same at the end of the day, so give a little friendship and support to others. Start small, say “Hello”, ask a question, enquire about the welfare of others and smile.

There’s now a campaign to end lonliness and they’ve just put out this video. It features comedian Andy Parsons approaching what is now a standard sight – a group of people staring at their phones – and actually interacting with them. It’s something many of us would never do, but these small moments can really help..