1066 Ramblers... BATTLE!!

So a random suggestion made at the end of last year finally led us to Hastings. On a "Ramble". Am I 60?! What the hell has my life become? I consciously left the comfort, shops, pavements, street lights and bars of London at 9am on A Sunday morning to drive 2 hours to Hastings to go for a WALK!! Honestly, I no longer recognise myself. 

Other ramblers, looked at us as if we were lost and had wandered a little too far East of Soho. This could be due to the fact that one of us was wearing a white sheepskin/fur jacket, one of us had bright red Nike's on (it was my way of proving I was trendy and not a 60 year old who liked walking on cliff sides), one of us was wrapped in a picnic blanket with a staff, clearly channeling Moses or Gandalf and one of us had a quiff and a leather jacket. All in all we were ill equipped for the trip (although we did have a stash of Brandy for emergencies). The side glances we got from seasoned Ramblers in hiking boots, rucksacks and hi-vis jackets was testament to this fact.

Did we have blast? Errrmmmm Yah! The most amazingly unexpected time was had. Who knew a cliff side in sleepy Hastings could bring so much joy?! The company obviously had a lot to do with it, but the views were AMAZING! The challenges some of the cliffs presented often had me wanting to turn back, especially as it meant getting my Nike's dirty. But we persevered, through slips and cliffs and nudists and were rewarded with the most exhilirating experience. Who knew walking could be so much fun?! Well, obviously those people who have been rambling for years knew.

The phone that killed the conversation...

*sings* "Blackberry killed the telephone call, Blackberry killed the telephone call..."

I know you can all probably relate to this on some level. Whether it be that your teenager is constantly bbm'ing (instant messages via blackberry messenger) their friends and only communicates with you via grunts. Or your partner is constantly bbm'ing and checking emails on date night. Or at drinks with friends they are bbm'ing their partners telling them their every move. My point is that not only are these phones highly anti-social. They are single handedly killing the art of the conversation (obviously I’m not blaming only blackberry).

Not only are people constantly messaging whilst in the company of others, no one actually picks up the phone and has a conversation anymore. The back and forthing of blackberry messages, facebook messages, email, twitter etc… which ultimately take longer are preferred to actually picking up the phone and having what could sometimes be a quick 3 minute conversation.

Now don't get me wrong, those of you that know me outside the cyber world know I am an avid tweeter, bb'er and emailer. I'm just making an observation and the observation is... NO ONE CALLS ME ANYMORE! I miss telephone calls and sitting in restaurants having conversations rather then constantly checking my phone, or waiting for the person i'm dining with to finish their bb conversation.

Where I once would've picked up the phone and called friends to see how they were doing I now message them... How impersonal is that? If I really cared wouldn't I call? It is terrible social etiquette that I have fallen victim to and I shall be doing my best from now on to rectify it. As of 02/02/11 i'm heading back to the days of Yore, where people spoke to each other. Where you didn't spend more time checking your phone then engaging with the person you were out with and where you spoke to the people you cared about. If you don't hear from me, you know what time it is... Lol

Who's with me??

It's good to talk

PR xx