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Amen to that, my FRiend! I have young co-workers who are more concerned about their iPhone goings-on than with their work. We’ve had to fire two kids who spent more time texting and talking on their phones than working. It’s getting pretty bad out there, IMHO.

My young family members aren’t immune, and they exhibit the same behaviors you describe. I thought that instant messaging would be the death of social behavior as we know, but it seems that social networking is more of a problem than IM ever was.

I think there are two social phenomena going on right now that speak volumes about human behavior.
First and foremost is the cell phone abuse (especially texting) which is so addictive people will risk life and limb to let their friends know - "I just left the mall and some jerk is beeping his horn at me", all while drifting lane to lane doing 45 mph on a 65 mph highway.
The other is bottled water. I think it's replaced smoking to satisfy that hand to mouth habit so many have (or had); and it's also become a security blanket not unlike a baby's "binky."
It still amazes me how many people can't get through a one hour meeting w/o a water bottle. You'd think it was a day long event in the Sahara.