A pick-up game of tic-tac-toe

The new pick-up line

The Friday after Thanksgiving a few friends and I went to Mantus Lounge, a very posh club in Dallas that, regretfully, people seem to frequent more for its poshness than for the DJ/owner’s unmatched (according to me at least) ability to mix songs seamlessly and almost effortlessly. 

It was while scoping out the dance floor that I witnessed one way in which new media and technology have changed ways in which people interact with each other, even face-to-face. 

In an act of either cleverness or cheesyness (you be the judge) somebody placed his iPhone in front of my friend displaying a game of tic-tac-toe  where he had made the first move and it was now up to my friend to decide whether or not to continue playing. The novelty of this compelled my friend to participate and see the game through to the end. Later, the guy confessed that he had let her win as well – clearly the man left nothing to chance.

No further conversation ensued after the game and that brief moment during which two complete strangers connected with each other. However, for the rest of the weekend and now until the end of time through this blog post, I discussed with family and friends just how many aspects of our lives are being enhanced or completely revamped by the apparently unnecessary applications we have found for technology and new media.

We can now break out into random light saber fights, we never have to worry about songs getting stuck in our head because we can’t figure the title or artist and, as of Friday night, I learned that pick-up lines are a thing of the past as well. I can’t imagine the original tic-tac-toers would have ever seen this coming.