How many times are you out and you see some person intently staring at their phone- essentially disconnecting them from the reality of wherever they are at that moment? I feel like over the past 5 years it has really changed this country, and life in general. You go to a bank, a birthday party, an important meeting, waiting in line, and all you see are people staring at this little 4x3" box. It really upsets me if the person has kids with them who are being ignored. I confess- I have a smart phone and yes I do it too. I love my phone, I read the news and play stuff on it- but I also relish in the idea that I put my phone away when there are important things or people next to me, like my children, colleagues, friends or family. I'm writing this mainly to vent, and hear other people's thoughts on this subject.
It's alright for kids to be ignored from time to time, especially when they seem like they could really use some attention. f**k 'em. I jest. I don't ignore my kids in favor of my smart phone. In fact, the kids are very likely to take it from me to play games. They ignore me. I really like seeing two people of a date allowing an uncomfortable silence to grow into 5 or 10 minutes of tip-tapping at their phone. I always want to say 'Dude, if you don't talk to her now the chances of you getting to digitally video tape your digital inspection of her nook falls exponentially.' Then I remember that I don't know anything about the habits and thought of the more recent cultural generations and I button it up and get back to Angry Birds. f**k 'em.
I don't even own a smart phone. People who use them as mcbrett describes are major failures in my book.
As a teacher of 16-year-olds, if people who look at cell phones all the time are the "major failure" you describe, we're in for a ****** up future. Sometimes I think I could get away with pretty much anything from flipping my class off to showing nudity on the overhead projector, and most of the class would miss it.
It happens in college classrooms, too. (I know, big surprise there.) I'm one of the few that actually chooses to pay attention though. It just pisses me off whenever people are dicking away their time on their phone, computer, tablet, etc. instead of actually paying attention in class. We are in for a ****** future. Most students aren't learning anything. They just cram well enough to get a decent grade on the test, and let all of the information fall out of the back of their mind as soon as they walk out of the exam. And on a different level, I think it's just ******* rude. If I'm sitting in class with you, it's because I paid thousands of dollars to be there. I don't want some queer f**k watching videos on YouTube to distract me or anyone else from what the professor has to say. And it's rude to the professor. Yeah, they get paid to teach whether you learn anything or not. That doesn't mean that they don't care though. That doesn't mean they don't take offense to your blatant attempt to not pay attention. I look at it like a business meeting. Would you pull out your phone/laptop in front of somebody and completely ignore what they are telling you? You might, but you would get your *** fired for it. If they are talking to you, it's because they have something to tell you. If you miss an important piece of information, they're not gonna feel sorry for you. You decided not to pay attention to them, so why should they care about you? And to go off of buckhorn's example from earlier, if you're on a date, I don't care how bad it's going. You don't pull out your phone and sit there like a douche. You're telling the person across from you that your phone is more important than they are. What a jackass thing to say. You don't really deserve anybody if checking your fantasy score is more pressing than interacting with whomever you're on a date with.
I think there’s a weird psychology going on here with our computers and devices, like people are afraid they’re going to miss something world-changing if they don’t grab that latest email while it’s still warm, or check to see if one of your acquain— er, friends on Facebook has posted fresh drivel. Or maybe it’s just the modern way to check out when you don’t like the company you’re in. That much I can understand because sometimes I find myself among people that are less interesting than Angry Birds or SpellTower.
