Have you ever been on a date and the person you are with spends half the time chatting, browsing and posting stuff on Facebook, acting like you are not there? How often do you go out to lunch or dinner with someone and you notice them checking their phone repeatedly to see if any new messages or texts have come in during the meal? There is no doubt technology is incredible, but  it seems that the intense need to stay connected in today’s digital world has resulted in people being more disconnected from each other than ever before. I’m still trying to get used to two people walking together yet ignoring each other because they are both busy with their phones.  I witnessed a very sad thing at some public function mid this week. A beautiful young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, on the protocol team and dressed smartly in a umushanana with a name tag on, was standing in front of the crowd but kept animatedly typing and probably taking pictures of the occasion while giggling like a fool without a care in the world.She like many others have become a slave to their cell phones, they seem unable to breathe without them. When did we become a society where the person we are with isn’t worth talking to? Why even bother hanging out with your friends or go to some gathering if you are going to ignore everyone? This indicates that the people you are with are really not worth your time! This whole ignoring of the person you are with thing is wrong. And people who do that are incredibly rude. It’s as rude as being stuck in the middle seat on a bus and having the two   people on both your sides carry on a conversation with each other as though you do not exist.  This just makes people more disconnected with each other despite being "connected”. They honestly think they are "keeping in touch” and feeling more "connected”.Although most people who are attached to their phones are female, a good number of men are also catching the bug. Even when driving, you see them trying to keep one eye on the road and another on a Watsaap massage. How would you feel if you were chatting with someone at a party and they continued to stare past you or look over your shoulder to see if they could look at something more interesting?  This is exactly how it feels when you ignore the one you are with and romance your phone instead.