Priscilla and I went out to lunch yesterday. We were shopping in Dartmouth so we went to Five Guys where I had my favorite bacon cheeseburger. And fries of course.
Now let me first say that I don’t know if this is actually what was going on or if it was just the way I observed it, but the two men sitting at the table next to us both had their heads buried in their phones. They were waiting for their order to be called but I could see them both scrolling away on their phones and I could just play it out in my mind:
Friend 1: “Hey let’s get together for lunch!”
Friend 2: “Sure I haven’t seen you in awhile, it’ll be nice. “
They go to lunch and nobody talks.
I looked around the restaurant and, even though that’s not a very big place, there were several people on their phones.
In some ways I’m just as bad as anyone else as far as checking my phone, but I try not to look at it when I’m out with a friend. I go to breakfast with friends every week or so and while I should probably just leave it in my coat, I do put my phone on the table, but I put it face down so I’m not teased every time I get a notification.
I saw an interesting Tweet this week from @MrFurtadoFHS. It said, “Media 2 students used journalism skills to explore how cell phones distract students. We asked students to turn on their speakers, and record their findings during 1 day in 1 classroom. 91 students received 330 notifications, averaging 66 notifications per class period!”
This was accompanied by a video of the experiment.
Think about it: Snapchat, Facebook, Facebook friends who have a birthday, people on Facebook liking something you liked a few days ago, Twitter, Instagram, instant messenger, Google mail, news alerts, weather alerts, etc.
I saw a funny meme this week: a picture of an old phone that had a chord and a line that went into the wall. It said something like, “It’s funny: When the phone was tied with a wire, people were free.”
It’s amazing the hold that the phones have on some of us. I heard a story about a local store manager who told a new hire that he couldn’t have his phone on the sales floor.
The young man said, “I can’t have my phone? I need it.”
To which my friend said, “Why?”
“My parents might have to get in touch with me.”
“Well they can call the stores main line if it’s an emergency.”
“How will I know what time it is?”
To which my friend said, “There’s a clock on the wall.”
The young man, who was obviously starting to panic said, “What if I need to figure out a discount like 20% off?”
“There’s a calculator right next to the register.”
He just couldn’t imagine not having his phone in his hand or pocket.
I did see something that looked refreshing the other day while driving home. There were three young ladies walking along the street laughing and talking and apparently just enjoying life. And there wasn’t a single phone in sight.
Let’s try a little phone detox this week if you think you need it. I can’t wait to see what you rediscover.
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