The Conversation Was Already Over

I noticed it in a coffee shop the other morning.

Two people sitting opposite each other.

One talking.

The other nodding almost too quickly.

Then replying before the sentence had even properly finished.

Not aggressively.

Just slightly early.

Like the response had already been waiting.

You start noticing it more once it catches your attention.

People listening while preparing.

Scrolling without absorbing anything.

Walking while checking something else.

Even small pauses feel uncomfortable now.

Silence in lifts.

Silence in cars.

Silence at dinner tables.

Someone usually reaches for a phone within seconds.

I caught myself doing it on a train recently.

Opened my phone three different times without actually needing anything from it.

Just movement.

Thumb moving.

Screen changing.

Attention going somewhere.

Then I looked out of the window for a bit instead.

Trees.

Back gardens.

A man standing alone on a platform with a coffee in his hand.

Nothing dramatic happening.

Still felt strangely calmer than the phone did.

I don’t know when everything started competing this hard for attention.

Conversations.

Apps.

Updates.

People.

Even rest sometimes feels interrupted before it properly begins.

And after a while you can feel it happening internally.

You stop arriving fully anywhere.

Part of your attention always stays somewhere else.

Half in the room.

Half waiting for the next vibration.

The next update.

The next thing.

Maybe that’s why certain moments feel different now.

Walking without headphones.

A quiet hotel corridor.

Looking out of a train window without reaching for anything.

Not because those moments are extraordinary.

Just uninterrupted.

BuildionX