Friday, September 10, 2010

Being Where You Are

My husband I are both up for new cell phones. We have been for sometime, but neither of us can decided what to get. Let me rephrase that, my husband knows exactly what he wants, and I don't want him to get it. I want the simplest phone possible. Just a phone that can call, text and take a picture. Plain and simple. My husband, on the other hand, wants one of those fancy things that starts with a D and ends with a ROID. You know, the phone with the app that can tell you when you are going to die, how many kids you will have and whether or not you will have steak for dinner tonight? Yeah, that one.

I generally don't put restrictions on things my husband wants (except a motorcycle and things we can't afford), but here's the thing with the phone: I don't want my husband to take me to dinner and bring a third party (who happens to know EVERYTHING) along. I don't want to sit at the dinner table, having a discussion about something, and him magically find it on his phone. I like the discussing part, thank you very much. I'm not sure I like the idea of always being connected and having an app that can do everything but eat, sleep and...well you get the picture.

We went to a wedding a few weeks ago and got sat at a table with a bunch of people my husband went to college with. About forty five minutes in to the reception I observed something. Every single person at the table, including myself, started checking and playing with our cell phones. What did we think we were missing? A really cool status update? A call from the president? It was like an alcoholic who needed a shot. People today are literally addicted to technology and need a "fix" every hour or so. I'm not putting the blame on everyone else, although I don't do this so much with my phone, I'm terrible with a computer on hand.

When did we lose the ability to just sit and be with one another? When did it suddenly become o.k. to pick up your phone and check Facebook in the middle of a conversation. Do you honestly feel comfortable telling a friend something of importance when they are sitting and texting the whole time? Which leads me to my next question, who are we missing out on getting to know and what's not being said because of cell phones?

So, next time you are with a friend, or better yet your spouse, turn off the phone, be where you are and listen. Heck, they may even have something more important than a status update to say.

6 comments:

  1. I wish there was a like button.... ;-)

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  2. That's a really great post, Drea.

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  3. I agree completely. Blessings,

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  4. Wonderful post! This is so true! My DH has a blackberry and that is already bad enough! I have to admit that I am also very guilty of checking my email on my phone every half an hour or so. I get so excited to check for blog comments etc, and then I end up going back to the computer for 10 minutes, and then before I know it, I have spent a huge portion on my day in small increments on the computer or my phone! ugh
    Also, what is it with men and motorcycles??

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  5. Great post! I have to remind myself that I do NOT need to check my phone all the time! It is hard! It's become such a bad habit! I really started to notice that entire families ... With children ... Would be out to dinner and the parents and kids were all in their separate phone worlds! After that... My phone use has gone down a lot... But there is still a long way to go!

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  6. Oh wow - you really hit the nail on the head, and I admit I'm as guilty of this as the next guy (although I don't interrupt a conversation to check on Facebook).

    When you think about it, it would be considered rude to drop a conversation with one person in favor of talking (or, in this case, texting) to another.

    Thanks for the reminder.

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