I once dreamed I would command the attention of millions for hours, but these days I'm having a hard time holding anyone's attention for one minute. Is it me, or is everyone's attention span shrinking?

On Facebook a guy I knew in high school was encouraging everyone to come visit him at a local pub while he was in town from Los Angeles. I once traveled cross-country to see him, so I thought I would look lame if I didn't go four miles across town to say hello.

I found him at the bar and he gave me a bear hug, and explained that this meet-up wasn't just for him, this was an informal reunion of our high school class. He led me to a meeting room to get a name tag. As I was filling out a tag someone tapped him on the arm, and he got into a conversation with them. I figured I'd catch up with him when he was done, and began wandering around.

Finally I saw a familiar face, a guy who, the last I heard, had gone to work at CNN. He said he hadn't been at CNN in about 10 years, he had gone into the lighting business. Yeah, he had done lights for the last two MTV Video Awards. He also was a camera man for NFL Films. He just happened to be in New York at 24th and third and the lady from NFL Films was at 3rd and 24th, so they were right across the street from each other and had lunch. He had also done some lighting for the White House. Oh, yeah! He has a sign over his mantle that says he had an official White House security clearance! Yep, been living in Miami for the past 10 years but just moved back to town after his dad died from cancer. He's in a townhouse with a nice pool table. So what had I been up to?

"Well, I did internships at a few radio stations, and then I began working at a station in Cartersville where I started off doing the news, and then I got my own show..." Already at this point, just one sentence into my tale, his eyes were drifting around the room. Then someone tapped him on the elbow in the middle of my sentence, and he was immediately into a new conversation.

This party was supposed to move somewhere else at 9 p.m., so I looked around for my buddy. Didn't see him. Guess he left. Sigh. Welcome home!

Similar scenes happen at work. The guy who sits across from me will stand up and say, "Are you on a call?" If not, he will detail the hassle he just had with his last customer.

"Yeah, I had a guy like that yesterday," I'll say. "I told him he wasn't eligible to upgrade, and he refused --"

"Heyyy, streaky-streak!"

Streaky-streak? Huh? Oh -- some girl with highlights in her weave just walked by. Now he's talking to her. I've faded into the background after attempting to give a sympathetic ear. Now they're done, and he's ready for me to resume, except a call has come in and we're back to work.

Am I doing something wrong? Why is it I can't sustain anyone's attention for -- hey! Are you listening to me? I said, how come I can't...hello? Oh, never mind.