OH RLY?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RUjnqH3kMwone day, BC came in from our cul de sac. she had been hanging out with our two neighbors, two lovely girls who are only a year or so older than she. and, in short, she looked rather annoyed. i asked her what was bothering her.
well, mom, what is up with people who are standing right next to you and hanging out with you but they are busy texting other people?
what indeed?
just as netiquette was created for people who use the internet and email, some sort of celliquette needs to be created, for i fear civility is on its way out. i’m delighted that movie theaters now, as a matter of course, remind patrons to turn off their cell phones once the film has started, but more has to be done.
and i’m afraid it needs to be directed especially at the young, who text more than they talk.
it’s bad enough that people use cell phones while driving. how they can text and drive is beyond me — and it’s wildly unsafe, as this extremely disturbing and GRAPHIC public service announcement shows. that sort of thing looms much larger than just a pet peeve — that’s a matter of public safety. and there are many, many dangers in the land where sex and texting intersect, especially for our young people. not a pet peeve but a serious, scar-worthy scare.
so i will return to the lighter, fluffier world of interpersonal relations and texting. just as we parents work hard to teach our kids social skills when they are small, we need to continue to help our kids navigate this brave new world where technology and personality intersect. you taught little janey to share; now you need to teach her to pay attention to actual human beings when she’s with them. you need to teach her not to text and walk without looking where she’s going (to which i would add: dumbass girl. lucky you didn’t just walk into traffic, like i have seen so many, many pedestrians do. too bad the city can’t sue you for stupidity.)
you would think it would be common sense to not let something like texting take over, but it is. and i can’t tell you how many times i see people, usually young twenty-somethings and below, with other friends — and texting with other people who aren’t even there. here’s a thought, you social slackers: if you aren’t going to interact with the friends you’re with, STAY THE HELL HOME.
i’m grateful that at least BC has gotten the idea that ignoring people you’re with is a rather rude endeavor. maybe she can turn into some sort of evangelist on this issue?
until then, i will quietly seethe whenever i see this sort of activity. maybe i’ll actually call a friend to vent about it.
Ambrose Bierce defined “telephone” as “An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.” Driving through Old Town, I spotted four people in a convertible. ALL of them were either on the phone or texting. What’s the point in going out together if you don’t bother to interact with eachother? I wouldn’t worry too much about it. A-holes will always use the latest, most sophisticated technology to be an a-hole.
The dining room table is a phone-free zone. We’re not only proud of that, we’re smug about it.
Thank you for this. I agree. Last spring I attended a book club meeting. I was the only one at the table who did not have a smart phone cradled in hand with fingers twitching out endless messages to someone, somewhere. I couldn’t help wonder if they were texting each other about me, the lone oldster with the tin can and string phone looking both annoyed and clueless at the same time. I also wonder how one-on-one relationships work in this world of 24/7 connectivity.