Some of my greatest moments happen in the lunchroom at my office. Maybe it’s because I am totally at ease and rested when I go there. I usually spend about five minutes of my hour therMuking some form of leftovers before I sit down to start a conversation with whoever is around. Yes, I admit that I’m that annoying person who will ask you a pointed question even if your head is stuck in a book. The only thing that deters me is a cell phone. I’m convinced that the cell phone has become the most isolating piece of technology that we will ever experience.

I was sitting at dinner with my family one night when I noticed a gentleman come in. He sat alone in his booth, but it was clear that he wasn’t really alone. He had one of those bluetooth things stuck in his ear and it reminded me what a deterrent it becomes to starting conversation. The silliest thing that I have ever seen was the sight of a couple whose ages had to be about eighty sitting across from each other. Both of them had one in their opposing ears. I thought it would be funny if they both got a phone call at the same time, but it just seemed weird to see an elderly couple plugged in to the latest technology.

The mere presence of a phone keeps me from talking. If I step into my lunchroom and I see someone reading, I will still sometimes start a conversation, but if I see someone fiddling with their phone and/or texting, I won’t give them the time of day because I know that I will never get their full attention.

I sat in the lunchroom one day and asked a young girl about her relationship with her boyfriend. She answered my inquisitive questions and we wound up in a lovely little conversation about what commitment is all about. I shared with her my feelings about marriage and commitment and she told me how she felt about her current relationship. A couple of days later, she stopped me in the hall and thanked me for that conversation saying that she really appreciated it. Had she been playing with a cell phone, I might never have even tried and think what a great conversation that might have been circumvented.

Of course, it isn’t just phones. It can be laptops, Blackberries, or whatever might become a crutch and keep us from feeling like we’re hanging out there alone. It can be the newspaper or a book for that matter, but whatever it is that keeps us from starting that conversation, it is a real nuisance because the conversation that we’re missing is the real beauty of life.

Can you imagine Jesus walking up to the woman at the well while she is texting her current live-in boyfriend? Would the conversation they had ever have happened or would Jesus have just moved past her and helped himself to some of that water?