Stop treating human beings like non-player characters.

Technology has made it stupidly easy to avoid real human interaction. Our eyes are glued to our phones, barely noticing the people around us. Even in real-world interactions, we talk over the top of our screens — anything to avoid face-to-face conversations. We treat cashiers, servers, customer reps and even people we care about like NPCs from some video game–two-dimensional extras put here just to serve our needs. This has to change. It’s dehumanising and keeps us from connecting, both with each other and with ourselves.

When we mentally reduce people to NPC status, we strip their humanity away. We don’t see them as complex individuals with real lives, hopes, dreams and struggles. Instead, we see them as quest-givers, vendors, allies or obstacles. Their only purpose is to help our cause or get out of the way. We don’t “waste” time wondering where they go when we’re done with them, what they struggle with, or who’s waiting at home. This mindset has spread from games into dangerous places.

Customer service reps get hit the most. Think about the barista at your coffee shop, the grocery store cashier, or the waiter at your favourite restaurant. We don’t even make eye contact or offer basic niceties. We’re brusque, demanding, self-absorbed and sometimes flat-out rude.