After having breakfast at a local French café here in town
one recent Sunday, my teacher wife and I wondered across Connecticut Ave to the
Politics and Prose bookstore so she could pick up a couple of end of year gift
books for her young student book buddy. I love that old-school bookstore, which
is odd because I think the last book I read cover-to-cover in earnest was
probably from the Curious George or Nancy Drew series. [By the way, don’t send
me comments asking why I read things like “The Secret of the Old Clock” or “The
Password to Larkspur Lane” and not The Hardy Boys (never read one)…I don’t have
a good explanation].
Sure…every once-in-awhile I’ll read some James Lee Burke
Dave Robicheaux mystery novel or something from the James Patterson Alex Cross series,
but most of the time I’m too busy watching Deadliest Catch On Deck or catching
up on Kim, Khloe and Kourtney (I just realized they all cleverly have “K”
names) while finally answering a full-day’s queue of unopened emails to ever
waste much time reading. I do try to do a re-read of Dale Carnegie’s “How to
Win Friends and Influence People” every few (5)
years, but with the proliferation of reality TV and NASCAR races in HD, I just
can’t find any good reason to read.
Given that lack of enthusiasm,
I’ve always thought my fascination with books was strange. I just like
them...even the ones without pictures. When I go into Politics and Prose, I
almost always walk over to the back right-hand corner of the upstairs section
to where they have the business and self-help books. I usually try to find some
book about communication, and almost always purchase at least one to work my
way through over the course of the summer while sitting on the porch rocker
with a mild cigar and chilled glass of Chardonnay.
While in that section of the
store, I invariably check to see how many of the Dale Carnegie copies they
have on hand, and while doing so this visit, I noticed there was one entitled
“How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age” (or something like
that…the book is upstairs and I’m watching an episode of Mad Men on DVR while I
hammer out this blog).
The book is written by his daughter (or maybe it’s his
granddaughter), and attempts to apply the still relevant (she contends more
relevant than ever) “do unto others” principles of Carnegie in the modern era.
The author claims that while the anonymity and non-face-to-face distance of
certain technological tools provides a tendency towards cowardly snark in
communications that was less prevalent when folks had to look into another’s
eyes, the mere speed and reach of today’s electronic messaging vehicles
actually provides an even greater opportunity to apply Carnegie’s approach. For
some reason that just resonated with me, perhaps because I recognize my own
tendency toward much colder electronic messages than I’d ever dare to
communicate when standing toe-to-toe.
The irony of all this is while today’s technology has
created an odd dynamic where you see couples in restaurants sitting across from
one another in silence for long periods while starring down at their smart
phones (perhaps their texting each other), the mere volume of daily electronic
interactions actually provides us all far greater opportunity to apply the
golden rule. Sure, it takes a little more time, but if you can take a few extra
minutes to think about how your messages, blogs, posts and tweets can lift up
others and be less rant like (like so many of my blogs), you’ll have more
influence.
Have a great weekend and if you can spare a few moments,
think about the people that matter most to you and spend some time with those
you love. If you can’t be with them face-to-face, see if you can’t use whatever
communication medium you’re using to express that love as well. With all
these technological advances around today, your life and the lives of those you
love can change in a heartbeat now more than ever. So make the most of the time
you have right now…and do something that will matter over the long haul. 
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