Whispering vs. waving

      This afternoon in the expansive Cafe Veloce in Shibuya a young lad was talking sotto voce on his cellphone, his hand folded around the mouthpiece. In Tokyo, the use of cellphones is still officially discouraged in most cafes, but that's changing. Discrete short conversations on a cellphone are gradually elbowing their way in.

     Then suddenly the lad slapped his forehead and stood up and looked around the room, which is the size of three tennis courts. Across the room in a far corner a young lady stood up and waved, the wave being an older, but more immediate, technology.

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- Patricia Avocado