Disconnected

I'd had one of those rushed right off my feet days filled with work, appointments and deadlines to meet but now my busy day was coming to a close. I was so looking forward to the last appointment on my list. A friend I hadn't spent any real quality time with in several weeks had invited me to her home for dinner. It was Friday night. My friend didn't work outside the home most days. She has her own small business selling home and health care products. Most of it is done by phone or internet. I had given her an order and would pick my products up when I left to come home. We have a lot of common interest and she is a gracious hostess. My friend is a marvelous cook and tends to go all out when preparing a meal. She loves to cook and her meals are as eye appealing as they are tongue tantalizing and she cooks healthy. I was very much looking forward to this evening. I live alone and it had been ages since I had sat down to a home cooked family meal. I was looking forward to seeing her children, now teenagers and her husband and what I expected would be light and lively table conversation and a delicious meal.

I hurried home, showered and changed my clothes and then drove the 12 miles to my friend's home. I arrived about quarter of six. Dinner was scheduled for six o'clock. My friend greeted me at the door and after hanging up my coat I joined her in the kitchen and helped her get a beautiful dinner put on the table. Her teenage son was lounging against the kitchen counter talking on his cell phone. He suddenly flipped the phone closed and grabbed two slices of bread and a couple pieces of meat his mother was slicing up and made a sandwich. “Dinner is going right on the table,” my friend said. “Can't you wait a minute?”

“Nope. I'll zap something later. I'm meeting Pete and Andy at the arcade. I'll be home by ten, I promise. Okay?” He was out the door without asking permission to go out or be excused from dinner or waiting for her reply. The door slammed behind him.

“Teenagers,” my friend exclaimed, “you can't live with them and you can't live without them. They are so busy and preoccupied with their own life these days but I guess I should be glad the friends he hangs out with are good kids and from decent families. Sometimes it is easier to just not make waves.”

“We'd have never gotten away with that when we were kids.” I smiled at my friend.

“Oh don't you know it,” my friend said as she carried the meat platter to the table, “but it is a different world today.” She called the rest of the family to dinner and that is where that conversation ended.

Those who were still at home gathered around the table. My friend's husband fixed his plate of food and carried it back to the den to watch the news while he ate. He had an eight o'clock meeting of some sort and left soon after the news was over leaving his dirty dishes in the den. On his way out the door he said to me, “It was nice to see you again. We'll have to get together again soon.” I'd seen him for probably a total of five minutes that evening. He did apologize for having to run out but said the meeting was an important one. He is on the finance committee and there were several important issues on the agenda.

Their daughter talked with her boyfriend on her cell phone through the entire meal and the youngest of the three inhaled his food and then ran off to his room to play a computer game. He was in a major battle to save some distant planet. He'd made it to level seven and couldn't wait to get back. The enemy was hot on his tail and if they shot him down the planet would be doomed. “God forbid,” my friend retorted sarcastically and shot her son a look that would kill but let him go. He did make one other brief appearance as he dashed by to retrieve a beverage from the refrigerator and a piece of cake his mother had made for dessert. He disappeared into his room again; no I, yes, no, excuse me, please or thank you.

“He's not allowed to play computer games on school nights,” my friend explained as a way of excusing his behavior. “The kids all have a lot of homework and may only use their computers for educational purposes except on weekends or during school breaks. We have to have a few rules around here.”