Little Girl's First Teleconference!

This morning I had my first ever teleconference! It was quite exciting - I got an e-mail with the information, I logged in online, I called in and said my name after the tone, and suddenly I could see a list of people also in the meeting, and the host's desktop! "How exciting," I thought to myself, "another cool part of being in the real world!" I failed to mention this teleconference was a training session. It was very boring. I have also listened in to previous eMeetings with my manager, and have been very unimpressed. Sure, we're saving paper and trees and time; we also get to meet from the comfort of our own office (or, as it may be, cube). Yet you have to fight on the phone with people to get them to stop talking and listen. You lose the personal connection that comes with learning something with a group of people. There's no big conference table, no projector, no screen. I'm quickly learning that my impression of the "real world" died in the 90's. Now it's all about efficiency. If you can't have a meeting while concurrently typing up a spreadsheet and planning your next dentist appointment, you are not a successfully efficient businessman/woman. If only things were not so. The most interesting thing about this experience is that one of the points stressed in the company overview is to interact personally in the office, be it with coworkers, customers, supervisors, etc. Yet in my opinion, having an online meeting as opposed to in person contradicts that basic principle. I one day will manage a group that will meet in a conference room for all meetings, and I will wear suits every day. Though the modern world seems to believe otherwise, I do not equate efficiency with a lack of human connection.
As a small aside, along the lines of restroom awkwardness: After washing my hands, I turned around to grab a towel and realized a cleaning lady had been standing behind me, waiting for me to finish. As I ripped the towel off the dispenser, she said "No soap?" (it was actually "no soup?" but I think I got her drift). I replied, "No, I used some." Very, very awkward.