We've all been there, haven't we?
You are at a party or a get-together.
Maybe you know the people well, maybe you don't.
But you look around the circle (or line. It could be a line. Some families sit in lines, you know. I've seen them.)
And 3/4's of the people are conversing with those in the circle while holding their phone in their hand.
Yes, they are conversing.
Sort of.
But they are also reading the news, texting, updating twitter.
Mostly though? They are just holding their phones because their phones seem to be an extention of their hands. They just can't seem to leave those sneaky little devices in their pockets.
Now even though I am slightly addicted to social media, I don't text. Never have. People are always texting however. In church. In line. In school. During parties.
And I don't have a smart phone either.
Maybe If I did, I would let it become an extention of my hand too. Just because it is cool to have so much at your fingertips. Or maybe I wouldn't.
But despite how convenient it is to have someone be able to give you the exact date that Johnny Appleseed set our across the country at a second's notice, it is also somewhat annoying.
Annoying to look around a circle and see most people only paying 1/2 attention to what is actually going on around them.
Annoying to be sharing time with a device.
Annoying to not have your own?
Maybe.
What do you think?
3 comments:
I'm proud to say I still don't have a cell phone and like it that way! It's rare to meet teens nowadays who aren't texting-addicts and starting to get even rare among adults! I prefer to live in the dark ages because the more you have, the more you have to take care of. If I had a cell phone I'd have more messages to check, bills to pay, contacts to update, etc. Of course it's wise to have one if you live in the city where many dangers lurk and when you have a work schedule to maintain too. But I think, like you, that folks with cells should control their use better and not be texting or surfing while talking with real, live people.
LS, I have basic phone on my MIL's plan. Noah does not have one and he, like you, is proud of that fact! I think he is just about ready to give into the dark side though, and I kind of hope he does. He has a long commute and it would be nice to be able to get a hold of him :)
I agree. It's rude to be interacting socially with people and then abandon them to some unimportant text conversation that happens to occur on your phone. That being said, I'm totally a texter--I used to get SO annoyed by texting, but I've given in to the culture and use it to communicate frequently. My brothers are much more likely to talk to me via text and all the high schoolers I work with are too. And sometimes it's actually nice to have texting as an option in awkward social situations--you can say things you really can't say out loud...but that might be another controversial topic. But in general, I say, when in a social situation, pocket or purse the phone. You can definitely survive for a few hours without looking at it, and then when you do, you can feel really popular if lots of people have been trying to contact you! ;)
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