Have you ever noticed people don’t talk on hotel elevators or airport tram shuttles?  It was visibly apparent on a recent trip out East.  It seemed the minute I stepped from the terminal station platform through the sliding tram doors, all conversation ceased to exist.  It was almost like crossing into the Twilight Zone.  The dull monotonous drone of the cars rolling along through the concrete, glass, and steel tunnels seemed hypnotic.  Couples looked sideways, strangers glanced down, uniformed co-workers stared at IPads and cell phone screens as if too plugged-in to electronic devices to be bothered with anything else.  Even music was nonexistent.  Have we become so accustomed to communicating “a là text” that to use our voice becomes a weapon for cracking the silence code?  When did making eye-contact with the person sitting across from you become an invasion of privacy?  Call me old-fashioned, but I miss the art of casual conversation.  It’s food for the soul.  A short time later the tram doors opened wide and the automated voice announced we were at our destination.  As I stepped across the threshold, musical sounds filled the air and the buzz of conversation brought everything back to life again.