Can U Hear Me Over the Text?

to text or not to text.....lets try this guys....me included!!!!

on tour i made some observations....these observations were also made before the tour....actually...i started making them right after i went to see Shihan perform at Marion College a few months back....there was something different about that crowd....

they were texting...

like NO ONE!!!! No One was texting anyone for any reason...

it all started with a Shihan show i attended back in the summer at Marion College in Indy.....me and Hamid went up there and must have been there for close to an hour, if not a little longer....when we got there, the show had already started, so i'm figuring these kids that were there from the beginning, had been sitting there for quite some time.....the show was enjoyable, the poems were dope, and the commentary/questions/answers were meaningful....but there was one thing missing from the night that i easily noticed...probably because i have become so accustomed to seeing it.....

NO ONE WAS TEXTING!!!
not anyone....not at any point...it was easy to see the entire room because of the set up, so when i say no one out of the fifty or so people that were there, that got in for free, was texting, i mean that!!!

So after that, i started to take notice.....in town, out of town...i became more aware of my texting during shows....i became more aware of the level of disrespect it takes to do that outright in front of a performer.....in going out of town, from North Carolina to Philly, this pattern was unchanged.....and part of the reason i find myself  taking notice of it, is because there will be moments where i feel obliged to send a text to someone or something (twitter/fb/etc), that may or may not have anything to do with the poem being spit......and right before i do it, i find myself looking around and noticing that no one else is texting...which in the case of being out of town, makes me feel like its even more disrespectful because its not like i'm at my "at home spot".....its not like these people know me and no my love for poetry and the arts itself.....

so this whole thing got me thinking......why do we text while people are performing.....and i dont mean a random, can't wait another minute, "i said leave the key on the table" type of text.....i mean when we are habitually offending the person on the mic....when new people come up, how does that make them feel to look out and see some of the older poets, the "elders" not giving them the same attention they've worked hard to earn?  I mean think about it....u can't be an elder without being a rookie.....we aren't born adults, we don't start off as Somebodys.....there is a price that gets paid, mud that gets walked through.....
and when you are walking thru that mud as a performer, your audience is the reason you are there....otherwise, we'd all be content with singing and spitting poems in front of our full length mirrors or with teddy bears on the couch.....of which, subliminally, suggests that we STILL want an audience, or else we'd just spit poems out of the books, while watching tv and running the vacuum.....
but i digress
sorta
so if the audience is the reason, how does it feel when you see them not paying attention....and i know, i know....you can do two things at once....listen and type.....
text and be hear....BUT
divided attention is not what performers seek....trust me...i am one and i know it.....and when i get on stage, i hardly ever see people looking down at their phones....i usually can count on all ears to be open and all eyes on me.....but there was a time when i saw everyone looking at me, but they weren't listening....
and remember wanting the attetion i receive now....i've said it to others...i remember when i wanted Taalam Acey to listen to my poetry, but i was just another feather in the wind with a pen.....there were YEARS of insecurities....i was getting paid to do my poems and still didnt believe people liked me....
...or listened.....
and i was hurt....it was crushing....it took so much to become nSAYchable, which is why i never take for  granted the love i receive....i spent the night tonight, reading poems and stories i was tagged on over the last couple of weeks that i haven't gotten a chance to read.....not because i have to....
...but because the people that tagged me, were all people who i've tagged....and they were all people who have left comments about my poems.....i OWE it to them to read their stuff to....
because its the right thing to do....because its out of respect for them and their work....because its what i want from them.....i wasnt doing nothing that they hadn't done for me.....
and everytime i get a comment i am smiling....not smiling about praise, but smiling that people read it and were so touched that they left a comment.....
so i say all this to say, we as performers look to our audience for attention.....but when our audience's attention is being split between even lines we're splitting and the odd lines they are texting, its hurtful.....more than that, its disrespectful......especially to someone who's new....
.....we as performers OWE it to other performers to listen....damn or at least look like we are....its what we want from them.....when a high ranking poet comes in for a feature, one of the most exciting moments of the night for you is them hearing your shit....i dont care what NOBODY says....you want them to hear you....
we all do....
there is no difference......
and dont get it wrong...i am fully aware of the guilt i contribute to this topic....which is why im writing about it....first person....but i am also making a conscious effort to change that.....and so far, i've been pretty good...but this SEEMS to be a problem that weighs heavy in Indy....i've missed it in other states and never see it at the colleges....i'm not saying other places dont....but does that mean its ok if they do....Indianapolis is always the underdog....people pass by us on tour all the time as if we dont listen to music....or go to plays....we dont have major shine time on the map, but once people come they see a lot of love....but i'm on the inside and looking around in here, we are beginning to get besides ourselves on the love....we are getting too damned disrespectful.....one of the greatest parts of poetry is the love you receive....
and we need to stick to dishing out love.....and it wont be easy....its something we've all become used to, but other people ARE noticing, because i've heard comments in the audience at places....its rude....
....all i'm saying is to try...next time you're at the spot...where ever that spot is, and you see yourself looking at your phone....about to text....stop...wait....try to hold it like a secret....
...see the person on stage and allow the common ground you wish to stand on....give the same respect you want and the same respect they give....ESPECIALLY the new people....
look at them...give them, give us what we deserve.....put your phones on silent, hold your conversation to a minimum, at a whisper and stop texting.....twitter can wait
so can facebook......there are breaks, people have to walk to the stage.....there are bands that play....so its not like there won't be a single moment for three or four hours for to text.....im just saying, picking out the moments when someone is on stage
.....speaking to you.....from their heart....wanting your ear.....needing your lack of judgement...
you should listen.....and dont take this to think i'll be posted up at the spots seeking out texters and handing out tickets and shit...lol....
not what im trying to do....maybe no one will even agree with me....but i take that risk.....im just thinking in the eye of change, if i take off my rose colored glasses, maybe i can help others take off theirs...i mean thats what i set out to do anyway right....all i'm saying, is at least sometimes....
the text can wait....or perhaps you should keep that five or ten spot in your pockets....i mean just about everyone has unlimited texts at this point, so why pay so much to do what you do at home for free.....
...or at least until the next billing cycle.