Technology and media around us: our friend or our enemy?

I'm writing this article sitting on the floor of   Frankfurt Hahn Airport, Germany, waiting for my flight that is delayed. All of my concentration goes to this article right here right now and I caught myself comparing me with this laptop on my lap and me usually without it.

My usual airport routine consists in: arriving more than the necessary time ahead (because I have a huge fear of missing my flights), checking my gate, if not yet ready then at least in which direction I should go, getting to my gate and staying there and waiting as if I would leave also the gate would run away and never come back resulting me into missing the flight and getting real sad. So I just usually sit there, even for 2 hours if needed, and patiently wait. If I get hungry I'm usually prepared already for that so that I won't have to look for some decent place to eat. Ok, in this case in Hahn I indulged in McDonald's tasty/awful food because I have/had around 3 hours to spend doing nothing until I can just approach slowly to my flight or any information about it.

When I'm travelling alone I usually just stick to my routine, to myself and just be a good airport guest, I never fight with anyone or get involved in anything. (I'll dedicate a post about my airport experiences later in another post because I have some stories I'd love to share and I have a lot to say about the whole thing.)

If I'm travelling with someone the routine is usually the same, the only difference is in the use of social media, smartphone and Internet.

As you may understand, travelling alone involves a lot of listening to music, reading, writing, maybe even sleeping, playing damn embarassing games on my smartphone or iPod (it's so old it could be hipster-vintage), just doing my thing.

And sometimes I tend to criticise in my mind those people who are attached to their devices more than to their marriages or other human relations, but I kind of get it now. A lot of people nowadays work through their smartphones and PC's, they pass their working time on their devices just to have more free time later at home, they don't bring work home, they leave it in the borders of their smartphones, tablets, laptops and Internet connection. That could be my biggest pro for this smartphone era.

What about the con? No more kindness, no more "sorry"'s if someone steps on your foot and slams the door in your face unwillingly. There is just no connection between Online and reality, human interaction and the sound of a new e-mail.

But all in all, that doesn't make us worse human beings. We are just adapting differently to this new era and what it brings along. And you know what? I ain't even mad! I love technology, I love seeing how the mankind has evolved and to be the kid who still had a childhood playing with insects in the garden and now to be able to multitask on my laptop and smartphone and to be connected with my loved ones throught Internet. 

The ending of this article should be the answer to the question in the title. And it is - both. Unfortunately we don't always know where to draw the line between social media use and human interactions, between a handshake and a poke on Facebook or a like on Instagram. Avoiding to get sucked totally in the technology and being an ass, would be paying more attention to basic relations between people and surroundings not getting too attached to neither of them.