Shortly after we were seated a family of four got seated at a table next to us.  It was hard not to notice the two boys (approximately 5 and 6 years of age) following their parents.  Each boy was far to occupied with their portable game units to pay attention to anything else.  Once seated the gaming continued through the ordering and until their food was place before them.  Mom and dad conversed approximately as much.  With food in front of them, each parent dutifully cut up pancakes and made sure the boys didn’t overflow syrup onto the table. Conversation remained sparse during their entire meal and soon as the boys finished eating their game units were once again activated.

Please don’t misunderstand me here, if I were to get started with one of those game things it would probably be all over but the shouting for some time.  At the same time I look back on my childhood (OK, maybe it was so long ago that memory is seriously fogged) and wonder how mom and dad would have reacted to that sort of lack of interaction at meal time.  Not acceptable comes to mind.

Then there are the pre-teens and beyond that are much too involved with texting to engage in verbal conversation with their parents.  The big question is do the parents give them the cellphone so they don’t have to talk with their kids or what is the deal?  Observing how little some parents and offspring communicate with each other from such early ages really frightens me.

That’s the Newcastle Brown Ale moment for tonight.