It's a lighter, much easier subject to talk about.
It's human nature to push thoughts of something so awful to the back of our minds. It's not because we don't care. It's more like we don't know how we can possibly prevent what is going on in a country ravaged by war.
The office romp, meanwhile, had all the elements of good gossip: sex, scandal, a married man, and the icing on the cake - photos on social media.
People were debating about whether they would have posted such images, or even taken photos in the first place.
Ten years ago this wouldn't have happened. Pub patrons might well have got an eyeful but the couple would have been very unlucky if someone in the bar had a camera.
These days it would be unusual for most people not to have some sort of device on them that "captures the moment", and in today's world the next thing you do after taking a photo is share it on social media.
I feel sorry for all those involved. However, it is a lesson to us all. Smartphones and similar devices are only going to get smarter and better.
There's an app now that can track your friends. Yep, a little map comes up and shows you exactly where your friends - and husbands, wives, partners - are. That's just a little creepy.
Everywhere you go people are looking at their phones.
Mr Neat and I couldn't help but laugh when we saw three girls walking down a Napier street looking at their phones.
The pavement was packed. There was a cruise ship in. It was a lovely day and the girls were obviously out and about with their friends; except they weren't. They were out and about, but they weren't with the friends they were with.
There was no talking, gossiping or giggling. All three were frowning down at their phones busy interacting with someone or something else.
A recent survey of 2000 smartphone users uncovered the following facts:
-The average user reaches for his or her phone at 7.31 in the morning.
-Many of us pick up our phones more than 1500 times each week.
-Average owners use their phone for three hours and 16 minutes a day.
-And almost four in 10 users admit feeling lost without their device.
But the picture that painted a thousand words for me about people and their phones was a chap sitting on a yacht looking down at his cellphone while right in front of him a humpback whale surfaced. A photographer captured the moment taking five shots and not once did the man lift his eyes from his phone.
That's a perfect example of what we are missing right under our noses while we are locked into new technology.
Not just phones and computers have caused this lack of conversation. As a colleague pointed out, even the humble dishwasher has played a part.
When I was a kid I had to do the dishes with my younger brother and older sister.
We wouldn't talk as such, more like bicker, and most of the time about whose turn it was to do what. Someone had to wash, someone dry and someone sweep the floor. When my sister left home it was just me and my little brother. We would throw soap suds, flick tea towels and fight every night about who had to sweep the floor.
Speaking of which, do people still sweep their floors? I use my vacuum cleaner now.
It only takes one person to load a dishwasher so no chance of a little interaction over the dishes.
We'd better be careful or speaking skills might go back to the time of the caveman where grunts and gestures were used for communication.
-Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.
