A new look at quality time

Yesterday on my walk to work, I saw three people on one of the park benches in Madison Square Park.

A man (all business suit and bluetooth earpiece), a woman (presumably his wife, for all apearances unaware of anyone arond her, focused intently on filing her nails) and their baby (gurgling unattended to itself in its stroller).

They each sat wrapped up in their own worlds, none of them were interacting with each other. There hadn't been a fight - there was no tension in the air - this was just the normal dynamic of their relationship. I watched them for a long time (my own work temporarily forgotten), intrigued and saddened by their lack of interaction. Not once did they look at, speak to or reach out to touch one another. They appeared not as a cohesive family, but a group of cohabiting individuals.

There was a heart breaking singularity to the group.

Just then the man's phone rang. I deduced from his tone it must be a friend, who had asked him what he was doin.
"Yeah, I'm in the park," he responded. "We're just spending some quality time together."

It saddened me that this was their quality time. This was their special time together, as a family.

I might have been able to tell you what happened next, had I not suddenly remembered I was supposed to be at work myself. Sadly, I had to head on.