Friday 7th September

Sitting here in a Prêt, just off Baker Street, I am surrounded by busy bloggers, i-pad browsers and mobile doodlers, and I am suddenly struck by how much the world has changed in such a short time.   A few years ago there were far fewer such establishments; it is only a recent phenomenon, the rise of Starbucks, Costa, Nero and Prêt.  A few years ago there were a few greasy spoon style cafes, Italian sandwich bars and small establishments where you could get tea or instant coffee in a white mug.  No-one would have dreamed of drinking out of cardboard.   And you had to wait while the woman behind the counter refilled the large metal tea-pot with hot water, giving it a desultory stir, before casually pouring out your tea.  Now it is highly mechanized, the training for a barrista being almost as long as that for a barrister.

But back then people talked to each other, now we are all isolated little islands of technology, with our ears wired to music or news podcasts or watching some TV re-run on i-player.  And I am one of them, as I type frantically, grabbing these few minutes of my busy day, I do not want to waste a moment, so I too have my headphones in, listening to some singer I am currently besotted with while I try to make this blog at least partly entertaining.  And none of us are in the slightest aware of anyone else, all so busy with our messages, our e-mails, our music,our texts, our…..well, whatever we are absorbed in, because it aint each other anymore.