Why Can't You Just Listen?!

     Have you noticed that listening is becoming a lost art. We went to lunch yesterday for my daughter's birthday. The waiter was great, but I had asked for extra olives and peppercinis for our salad and a few minutes later he brought us a plate of olives and onions. I found this ironic after I had just filled a bread plate with discarded onions I picked out of the bowl.
     You ask for ranch with your chicken Mcnuggets and you get bar-b-que sauce. Or you start to explain something or ask a question and you get interrupted by the person as if they don't have time to hear your whole explanation.
     I called my son into my bedroom the other night, he pokes his head in the door and before I could say anything he says, "I'm going to take a shower right now." As if I nag him about that, HA!
      "That's nice, but I wanted to tell you you left your backpack in the bathroom and tomorrow morning you're going to be freaking out when you can't find it."
     "Oh."
     I won't even go into the husbands not listening thing because that's a whole other level of not listening, with different motivations.
     So what is it with the not listening? Are people so busy that they don't have time? Or are we so programmed by TV that if you can't resolve something in less than a few minutes they are unable to focus.
     I'm not sure but it's driving me nuts. I sometimes want to scream, "If you would just listen to me until I am done speaking!?"
     Maybe that's too much to ask these days when everyone is so busy telling you their opinion that they can't be bothered to listen to yours.