Lamenting Social Interactions

I like to think of myself as a social vampire, sinking my fangs deep into the jugular of 2 a.m. conversations and interactions that result from a communal saturation of alcohol.

What I take from these encounters are critiques about the social experience of college students. Feeling like a drunken martyr, I sacrifice my liver and brain cells to study and highlight the societal gaffes that we continually make.

To begin, I do not believe that we are even engaging in real conversations that pertain to anything relevant. As an employee at both a restaurant and bar, I constantly overhear (ok, I creep on people to listen in) a meaningless discourse devoid of intellect and emotion.

Mainly I hear about the party the night before, a deconstruction of Snooki's outfit on "Jersey Shore" or the framing of the context ex's text from 4 a.m.

Rarely do I hear about a book (other than "Twilight") that couldn't be put down, a fiery discussion about politics or even a simple discussion about what music means to those people. Granted, conversations carom off the situation and audience at hand and, after a night of drinking, important issues take a back seat in our drunken haze.

I don't think of the Bally at 1:30 a.m. as the best place to wax poetic about immigration reform. However, perpetually engrossing ourselves in empty conversations does not help us grow.

Another irritating habit that hurts our social interactions and conversations is our incessant need to be on a cell phone.

I cannot go anywhere without my BlackBerry and use it constantly, but when I am out and about, I try and stay off of it. When I look around at bars, I see a majority of people talking without looking one another in the eye. Instead, they are bobbing their head, perhaps responding but looking into their phone as they text away. I don't understand the point of going out with friends only to talk to the people who are not around.

Texting is a communication that is rooted into our society now and is acceptable at times, but traditional social interaction in college is a way for us to mature in social situations that will help later in our careers and life.

Business lunches won't take place over BlackBerry Messaging.

We won't meet significant others by talking about how many Jager Bombs we had the night before and our social acumen will suffer if we don't expand our views and social groups.

I am not saying it is anepidemic that threatens our livelihood, but as college students trying to mature and prepare ourselves for a successful adulthood, it would be beneficial to us if we set our minds on a higher plain of communication.