Having headphones in can be dangerous, and i only say this because it has been proven to me. In October last year a friend of mine walked out in front of a car, the car hit him and he was killed on site. He may have not seen the car, but he couldnt hear it either which contributed and is what i think was the final cause of his death. He simply didnt hear it coming.

Im not the type of person to worry about something like that happening to me at all, it wont effect the way i am in the slightest. However it did make me think that my friend probably thought the same as me, the standard “oh it wont happen to me though, everythings fine”

It showed me that unlikely things arent impossible, i know iv strayed from the original question here but i wanted to make that point.

Back to the question though. Yes she is an old lady with nobody to talk to, and yes she will have only asked you the time to start a conversation, but understand that she isnt used to being ignored, she has grown up in a society who communicate even if there is no good reason to.

All it is is the world has moved on without her, its sad to think that in one way or another it will happen to us too, we just dont know how yet.

“She wasn’t interested in knowing the time. She simply wanted to talk to someone. ”

Not a matter of an old lady or whatsoever it might be. It’s simply just a need to talk to someone.

Indeed, I experienced something unusual to that extent in Bhutan… I’m quoting from my travel blog:

Thimphu is one of two national capitals in Asia that does not have traffic lights. Local authorities had installed a set of lights at this junction but before they became operational the lights were removed. People complained that the automatic traffic signals were too impersonal and hence very unnatural to Bhutanese culture. So, instead of traffic lights, the city takes pride in its traffic police that directs the oncoming traffic with their dance-like movement of their arms and hands.

Inefficient, unproductive, wasteful expenditure, error-prone? Maybe, but its human!

You can see this difference in rural vs. urban India. Village folk in rural India share their meals with strangers when travelling. Visiting relatives from rural areas get bored in cities because the ‘apartments’ concept with neighbors behind closed doors is alien to those living in olden-style ‘wadas’ and ‘chawls’.

This is the basic reason many people believe that technology is ultimately de-humanizing. There has been loads of literature on the topic and I don’t think we’re anywhere near having any answers yet.

And if we are to listen to someone, it seems better to do it with empathy instead of just for the sake of it. Cause that’s even worse. It’s better to politely decline it otherwise.

So all who want to talk or listen should go to a social gathering or something. And keep your earphones at home