Quantity vs Quality

My job has some down time, where I'll sit somewhere and finish paperwork. Usually I end up people watching, or as I like to call it, observing and studying the human race. Today I witnessed a "family" time outing that went something like this. From my observation dad was on his lunch break and decided to have lunch with his wife and child. Which is a great way to catch some time with your family if things are generally hectic. However, what it seemed was only the mom and son were engaged and the dad was just occupying space. The child had an imagination and was full of life and energy. He and the mom were able to laugh and joke through the entire meal. The dad, however was engaged, but not in his family. He was engaged with his phone, sendng and receiving messages. His son had asked him to partake in the game, but dad replied "I don't want to", and looked back at the screen. He spent about a total of five minutes in conversation, or lack there of, with his child and that was merely to tell him to keep his voice down and clean up his mess. He actually invested more time in conversation with another patron who sat down at the table next to him, that he apparently new from business. When the family finished, he managed to pat his child on the head and get into his truck and go on with his day. Hmmm, did he just check off another item on his to do list? My question to you, how many times have you acted the same way? How many "get togethers", conversations or meetings have you called but then actually made no eye contact, typed on your lap top or phone and remained just as disengaged as if you weren't there at all. What message are you sending? I know I am guilty of this same thing. In the world of multi tasking and trying to get ahead, we miss out on building relationships. Then we wonder why some of our relationships are left empty......