Sorry For Trying to People With You

Phones.  They’ve come a long way from their early rotary ancestors.  I am among the many who grew up –pre cellular technology.  It took forever to dial a phone number as it click click clicked to your desired destination.  

I got my first smartphone, a Blackberry, in 2010 and it changed my life.  I spent hours on Facebook, on Twitter, reading, playing games.  It was amazing.  I did however grow increasingly annoyed with the fact that people were now beginning to spend their time together, while in each others’ company, on their phone instead of interacting.  It seemed rude to me then and it still seems rude to me.  Maybe it’s my age.

I’m not going to say that smartphones are evil.  I can’t poop without mine.  You laugh, but you probably can’t poop without yours either.  You’re probably pooping right now in fact.  You animal.

My problem is that it’s quickly become a replacement for human interaction.   My partner, “C” is always on her phone. From the time she comes home until the time she goes to bed.  She’s an obsessive reader and Redditor and fervent Jeopardy World Tour contestant.   Sometimes I try to talk to her and she shoots me the look that instantly lets me know I have disturbed her game and quite possibly, cost her precious points. 

Sorry Babe.  Sorry for trying to people with you. 

It’s just like that now.  In addition to evaluating a person’s body language to determine whether they will be receptive to conversation, you now have to consider whether they are playing a game, responding to an email, commenting on post somewhere or tweeting.  I mean, if we have to start waiting for people to meet our eyes to start engaging, it’s going to become an awfully quiet world.  The only noise will be that of periodic beverage sipping and occasional chuckles over a meme or a thread or a tweet or, or, or.

Sure, there some very valuable benefits to keeping your phone nearby at all times.  I certainly feel smarter when I can interject a random piece of trivia in everyday conversation. “Actually a yurt is an entirely different building structure from the early Turkish culture which vastly differs from a tipi from Native cultures…”

I can also stay up to date on all the latest dog and cat videos.  I sometimes catch myself looking at food porn or secretly trying to keep up with the Kardashians thinking to myself, “what am I doing with my life?”

Shoutout to Pinterest for all those craft ideas and recipes that will never come to fruition.  An honourable mention to Tumblr for introducing me to Gifs back in 2011.   It literally changed my life.

I’d like to close with a promise of using my phone less but, let’s face it, I’d just be lying.

Are you addicted your smartphone?  What’s the longest you’ve gone without checking it?  

Live Humbly, Be Charitable, Live Graciously,

Sam

Images

Cell phone humor cartoon- https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e9/19/16/e919160d81c7c9a24509d7455cc75771–pet-peeves-funny-things.jpg

Hands and phones image https://www.menshealth.com/sites/menshealth.com/files/styles/article_main_custom_user_phone_1x/public/young-people-dont-know-how-to-talk-to-eachother.jpg?itok=jBvMzIEP×tamp=1490800552