Don’t you hate it when you see younger people glued to their smartphones? It’s like watching a sitcom where people walk into traffic while hypnotized by their screens.
Several years ago hubby and I were at Capital Grille ($$$$) and the table next to us had six 30-somethings in business attire whose attention was squarely on their phones. Not a word exchanged among them! Our group was puzzled by their lack of sociability. We wondered if they were texting each other.
One person on Reddit complained, “This morning I was on the train on my way to college and literally everyone was glued to their phone. I was the only and maybe that wasn’t on their phone. I’m glad I broke this habit.” (1) Several people defended the phone-absorbed commuters, arguing they’d have buried their noses in books or newspapers back in the pre-phone era.
I confess that I use my smartphone a lot. When friends comment on my frequent smartphone use, I sometimes argue that I am not addicted, listing all the times I don’t use my phone. I don’t use my phone while driving (is it cheating if I use it when I’m at a red light?), or at dinner (except for special circumstances), or in meetings (unless I have to research a question). I notice I always have an excuse for pulling my phone out.
We know it’s impolite to use the phone while dining with people. This week I violated that rule twice: I answered a colleague’s text while dining with someone and I answered a call the other time. At the grocery, I called my friend to ask what kind of cake she liked and I chatted with her through the produce, wind, soup, and coffee aisle. It wasn’t until the condiments aisle that I realized came to my senses and hung up. Engaged in the conversation, I was moving slowly and there was a long trail of shoppers behind me. I came to my senses when I realized I needed to check my grocery list on the phone. The irony: we were talking about rude people!
Am I addicted? I forgot my phone one night at dinner and panicked when someone asked a question I couldn’t answer and I didn’t have my phone. Fortunately, a fellow diner pulled out his phone and looked it up.
What if you are using the phone as part of the conversation? That shouldn’t count as being rude or addicted. Recently our background music in the restaurant is 50s and 60s rock. Frequently everyone at the table asks, “Who sang that song?” Last night Poetry in Motion was playing. I panicked because I didn’t have my phone but my friend used his phone to Google it: answer Johnny Tilloston. We would have never guessed that.
Of course, after we know who sang the song, our next question is: “is __________ (fill in the blank with a celebrity) dead? Or still alive?” Johnny Tillotson, is alive and is 86 years old. It’s amazing how many of our favorite singers are still alive: Connie Francis, (86). Frankie Avalon (83), Neil Sedaka (85), Paul Anka (82), Brenda Lee (83). On the other hand, Buddy Holly – dead. Elvis – that’s always up for debate.
Come to think of it, we never asked that question 25 years ago. Barring accidents or suicide most of the celebrities are age were still alive. Of course, it wouldn’t have done us much good to ask because we didn’t have a cell phone to look it up on.
Have our dinner conversations changed because the cell phone exists? What did we talk about back then? The news? What we did during the week? Kids? Work? I’m pretty sure we didn’t ask who was dead and who was still alive.
While most people perceive me as a tech expert, I’ve never mastered the thumb typing technique young people use. On the phone, I’m a one-finger typer. And a klutz. I frequently tap “o” instead of “i” and “t” instead of “r.” I don’t notice the mistake until a few words down. Forget tapping my finger on the incorrect letter. I tap and tap and tap and it never works. My finger’s too fat. I have to backspace over the whole darn message until I get to the mistake and type it over again, hoping I don’t get something else wrong.
Sometimes autocorrect helps. It even knew Tillitson was Tillotson. But sometimes you end up with ridiculous things. With autocorrect, my text said “thnx blemish’ I have no idea when I meant to type instead of blemish but the text was to Frank. Could I have gotten it that wrong? And I signed an email due instead of sue. Or I texted my friend, ‘that’s tight up his alley.’ I quickly corrected my mistake, “I meant right.” She responded, “It works either way.” We both think the person in question is a bit rigid.
On a scale of 0-5 how addicted are you to your smartphone? Zero – you don’t have one to five you use it every hour. My friends might say I’m a five, but I can go for several hours without using my phone. But after this week’s transgressions, I can see their point. They see me using my phone a lot more than other people.
At this stage, it's hard for me to remember life without my smartphone. I got my first smartphone fourteen years ago, less than 20% of my life span. What did I do when I had a burning question like “what’s the new TV show with the goofy lawyer from Chicago?” (answer: Elsbeth). What woman co-starred in Gaslight? (answer: Ingrid Bergman). What time is my reservation at Capital Grille next week? (answer: I don’t have one).
Last night while playing Mexican Train we were talking with our friends about famous people who live in our town. My friend said someone famous in a band died yesterday, but she couldn’t remember what band. I Googled, “What band member from Naples died yesterday?” and even though “famous band member” is really vague, Google popped up with Mike Pinder, founder of Moody Blues.” Now how can you resist using that marvelous device when it can answer such burning questions?
Despite that people think I’m glued to my phone – I don’t have text claw or smartphone pinky, conditions described by Piedmont Health. (2) And my thumbs are still the same size. So I think that’s evidence I still rank only a four.
References
Bonus: From BoredPanda.com Autocorrect fails
ANOTHER GREAT MUSING - THANK YOU!