The SS Californian deserves more than mere footnote status when it comes to its role in the story of the RMS Titanic. For that was the name of the ship that sent repeated messages to the crew of the doomed cruise liner, all of them warning of ice ahead. But the Titanic’s wireless operators weren’t interested – to the point where one employee dismissed the Californian’s communications with a reply that read: ‘Shut up, I’m busy.’
Of course, the Titanic wireless crew weren’t really busy at all. They were simply spending their time sending private telegrams on behalf of the first-class passengers on board. A few hours later, well, we all know what happened. But we haven’t yet gone public enough with the overuse of what was, back in 1912, an absolutely deadly adjective. It’s now usually less lethal, but no less infuriating.
The truth is that everyone in 2025 is busy all the time. It’s the default state of affairs for all of us who aren’t retired – and a lot who are. Saying you’re ‘busy’ is, ironically, the laziest, most disrespectful way to respond (eventually) to someone’s request, message or missive.
‘I’ve been busy’ is not a reason. It’s barely even an excuse. It’s just symptomatic of someone who, in their personal life, will be colossally disorganised and self-centred. And, in a professional sense, it’s the mark of someone who really doesn’t give a damn about their job any more.
I always think that a truth serum should be put over the B-word when it’s used as a justification or excuse. When someone says they haven’t done something because they’ve been ‘busy’ – and they don’t even bother to give you a sentence on what exactly they’ve been so busy doing – then the real meaning of ‘busy’ is generally ‘I’m not very good at my job’ or ‘I just can’t be bothered doing anything unless I’m cattle-prodded into doing it’.
‘Busy’ is a one-size-fits-all adjective which, like ‘organic’ and ‘luxury’, has had its original meaning worn to the nub by linguistic abuse and overuse. At least, in the past, the lexicon was a little wider. Nero’s supposed ‘busyness’ resulted in Rome burning while he faffed and fiddled, Thomas Gage claimed he was ‘fully occupied’ with administrative affairs in Boston while colonial militia were busy stockpiling arms prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord. The consequences were disastrous but it’s fair to assume that the hapless Gage was at least doing something with his days.
Now, the pungent aroma from a ‘Sorry not to get back to you sooner – things have been busy here’ missive is that of brutally curtailed mentation and a back story that involves missed buses, missed alarm calls, bungled paperwork and an inbox where the unread e-mails are well into four figures.
Saying you’re ‘busy’ is, ironically, the laziest, most disrespectful way to respond (eventually) to someone’s request, message or missive
Please don’t think I haven’t pondered kinder interpretations of all this. Can it be perhaps that the ‘busy’ excuse is less about a genuine inability to organise one’s life or treat a friend/colleague with respect, and more an indicator of a withered vocabulary? It’s true that people vary in how they manage communication and some genuinely struggle with organisation, or social energy. Texting or e-mailing the B-word is a vague, non-confrontational way of covering myriad inadequacies without having to admit incompetence or any hostile feelings.
But this just doesn’t wash. Because if you see someone face to face, I bet they won’t use the ‘I’m busy’ excuse as a standalone justification. If your eyeballs meet, there’s a compulsion to explain properly and, just maybe, to tell the truth.
For this reason, for now, the B-word is most buoyant in the digital world. But if in analogue life we know that simply saying ‘Sorry I’ve been busy’ is utterly inadequate, can we drag, by force if necessary, a little bit of this antediluvian savoir-vivre on to the scorched and steaming rubble of the digital landscape?
Let’s put respect and reciprocity above invented, or even literal, amounts of busyness. Ukrainian soldiers and heart surgeons in the operating theatre can legitimately claim they’re ‘too busy right now’. The rest of us should probably just be more organised. Or at least find another word. ‘Sorry, I’ve been going through a particularly sedulous phase recently’, anyone?
OK, I’ll keep working on it.
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