Several friends and family members get on my case from time-to-time about my addiction to social media and to my iPhone. What they don't understand is that I can multitask! I can have a conversation, cook, work, AND watch my Twitter feed, all at the same time. It's become so habitual that I feel uncomfortable when I can't be plugged in.
Tonight I met my friend Cathy at Anton's for dinner, and then we headed to the SFU Woodwards campus for a lecture hosted by Bard on the Beach called "Shakespeare 201." It was a great lecture, by Shakespeare professor Paul Budra, but I was slightly bemused as the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, where the lecture was being held, was several stories below ground, and had no reception. I couldn't find out the hockey score, I couldn't tweet about the interesting things I was learning (like about a medieval book called "Beware the Cat," in which a man creates a "physic" that allows him to talk to cats - I must read this). I could easily have listened to Dr. Budra and tweeted. I felt slightly out of my comfort zone just sitting quietly and listening, but I managed it, although I did take out my iPhone periodically to stare at it and see if it had magically found reception.
Then, my friends Zoe and Marie came back to my house with Cathy and I for tea, chat, and a slice of my strawberry-rhubarb sour cream pie. I wanted to be polite, what with all my guests, and so I didn't look at my phone, or computer.
AND I MISSED THE ENTIRE CANUCKS/SHARKS DOUBLE OVERTIME DEBACLE.
I MISSED IT.
One of the most historic hockey moments in our city, and I missed it.
Don't get me wrong, we had some great chats. And we did remark periodically that we weren't sure why the people outside at the local pubs were still cheering, however Zoe and I, both Woodwards residents, dismissed it by saying, "Oh, that's just how it is down here. People are always looking for an excuse to be rowdy." Then, we heard it - a massive cheer.
"That does not sound like just generic hysteria," Cathy said. I agreed, and turned on the TV just in time to see the replay of Bieksa's double overtime winning goal.
Now, of course, I'm caught up, and I will be watching the NHL network on the TV for the next few hours, so it's not like I truly missed it, but really? The major historical moments of the past few years: elections, MJ's death, earthquakes, Olympics, royal weddings - I've experienced them all live on Facebook and Twitter. And I felt curiously disconnected tonight, not to hear the diverse voices of my Twitter and Facebook friends as events unfolded.
So that's it. From now on, the iPhone is not going away - social media is here to stay. And I'm not going to miss a thing.