I probably should stay away from everyone these days. Mike and the boys came over and visited with me this morning and then we went to lunch at Jasper's. Joe and his 2 girls met us there. In all fairness, the guys were trying to arrange trips for the next 2 days to go snowboarding in the Sierra, but once Joe got there, he and Mike were looking down at their phones the entire time. The kids sat at an adjacent table so it was just the 3 adults, but I felt like I might as well not been there.
In all fairness, they were contacting Steve & Jeannie to include them in the snowboarding fun. I think they will all meet at Joe's later, along with Jeannie & her family plus probably Steve, and I think I will just stay home. It seems that no matter where you go or who you are with, people are hypnotized by those damn devices and can't take their eyes off them. I've about had it with most of humanity! It's not just my family - everywhere you look people are together but not really with each other - something more important is taking place on their phones!
I find myself wishing something would blow up the entire cell phone system world wide and people could go back to relating to each other. I'm only wishing for the destruction of cell phones, not anything else, mind you.
Everyone else took the kids to an indoor miniature golf & other games venue, where I'm sure the adults will still have their phones to their faces while trying to also communicate with each other. They mentioned something about getting together later for the evening, but I'm staying home. Multi-tasking just doesn't do it for me.
End of gripe session. I'm glad to get it off my chest because it is something that has been bothering me for a few years now, and I find it getting worse, not better.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Hi. You are not alone in this. I, too am dismayed by what has happened. Yes, Each person is in his/her own world. Often even in my knitting group 0f 8 - 10 , phones are out. I have to admit that sharing good pictures on the spot, is a plus. What bothers me the most is all the parents I see who are with their children in body only. I think this will have a negative impact in the future. Our young adult grandchildren see us seldom; when they are with us, they aren't here. Sad.
ReplyDeleteown world, even in a "crowded" room.
When people start showing me pictures on their phones it drives me crazy because I have trouble focusing on those small photos. They tap, tap, tap their screens so fast I can't see one and they have gone two past that one. I realize this is a problem with my eyes, but maybe others have problems as well.
DeleteWhen my family gathered last weekend to mourn my nephew, Jeannie got out a shoebox full of photos from when Brian was a baby to a grown man. You can't imagine how nice that was to leaf through the photos, taking more time on one that was particularly meaningful, and just holding it in your hand. Sure beats pictures on an iPhone by a thousand miles!
And I couldn't agree with you more. Those cell phones are in their hands all the time. They are constantly looking to see if they have been texted or gotten any messages. It's sad seeing an entire family out to dinner in a restaurant and rather than chatting while waiting for their food, they are all staring at their own screens. Sometimes they even text each other in the same room rather than talk. What are we teaching the little ones with this? Well said and I don't blame you at all but then we are "old fuddy duddies" is I'm sure what they'd say. Count me in as an OFD about a lot of things that separate us from one another.
ReplyDeleteYounger people have always been doing it but the age gap is creeping up. I sometimes hear a person walking by outside talking a little louder than normal, and when I look they are holding a phone to their ear. And that's another thing, when you are walking on the streets, even in residential areas, you need to be looking at what's around you and not worrying about a phone to your ear.
DeleteMy cell phone is an old fashioned flip phone that fits in the watch pocket of my blue jeans.
ReplyDeleteI have a Jitterbug phone which is pretty small. I recently came across one of the first phones I had, I think it was a Samsung, and it was the smallest thing I've ever seen. I much prefer a smaller one and could never carry around one of those big old iPhones.
DeleteMystified, irritated, disgusted, scared, hurt, neglected, rejected, saddened, shocked and fully astonished about all the "tech-toys" separating one from another and all others. Hell, Might as well live totally alone and isolated ...Oh, I do! Ha Ha. What will the world be in ten more years? For all I know, next to come out will be a gadget for the pets to ignore us also. And people wonder what is WRONG with me! Just the thoughts from this Cranky Old Woman. Today, a nephew has many lesions on his brain, doctors have found. Markus is an over educated medical worker and WAS a health nut to boot! It is now known cell phones can cause brain tumors. The cell towers are causing much mayhem, though 99.99% are unaware of consequences and don't care.
ReplyDeleteWe sure live in troubled times.
The biggest surprise to me is that all those millions of people who are looking at their phones have no concept of how they appear to those who would rather converse with each other face to face.
DeleteI am sorry to hear of your nephew's troubles. I don't think we have any idea of the physical harm those things can cause.
DeleteI hear you Gypsy, I am so sick and tired of seeing parents paying more attention to their cell phones than to their kids. It seems almost everyone has a cell phone glued to their hand these days.
ReplyDeleteI was so dissappointed because I only get to see my Houston friends once a year in Terlingua. One of my friends instead of talking to me about what has been going on in her life and with her family took out her cellphone and was showing pictures of mutual acquaintances on Facebook. What do I care about them? If I did I would have looked them up myself!
I am getting hot under the collar just thinking about it...sorry, this is your gripe session and not mine :-(
Anyone can join the gripe session, or present an opposite point of view if they like. I wonder what would happen if, at a gathering, someone simply asked "Can we all put the phones away for just a short time and talk face to face". Everything would go quiet and i doubt people would even know what to say to each other.
Delete