Now, I'd be just about the biggest hypocrite on the planet if I were condemn others for using technology. My laptop, phone and GPS are all very necessary parts of my everyday life---and I'm only a little bit ashamed of that. Sure, sometimes I wish I could learn how to get to my destination after missing a turn without having a machine recalculate my route, as I'm honestly lost as to how people managed to do that, but that's no matter. Technology is a resource (and a good one), but like everything it there's a time and place to use it. Nowadays, that seems to be all the time and everywhere and I find myself going a little insane as a result. Barring an emergency, here's 5 places I recommend everyone cut back.
1. Meetings
By this I mean lectures, presentations and chapter meetings. Yes, they can drag on and get a little dull, but that doesn't make pulling out your phone any less rude. I know it's a temptation, but next time think about how you'd feel if everyone did that while you were talking. Plus, it's good practice because anyone who pulled that during a business meeting at work would be dead meat.
2. Stores
As someone who works in retail, I cannot reiterate how annoying it is when someone won't look up from their phones while I check out their things. So next time you're shopping, make eye contact with the cashier or sales associate, at least for a few seconds.
3. Dates
You can call me old-fashioned all you want, but how are we supposed to make a connection with someone if we spend that time looking down at our phones? I've seen too many couples eating out, at a wonderful restaurant and staring at their respective phones. Technology has already become too much of a substitute for human interaction, do we really need it to consume all of our face-to-face time?
4. With Family
I can't emphasize this one enough, since a lot of parents and grandparents are foreign as to how reliant we've become, and thus take it as a personal rejection when we habitually check our phones. While that usually isn't the case, I can understand why they feel that way. To avoid any sad misunderstandings just silence your phone at the next family gathering.
5. With Friends
Going out with your friends should consist of just that, being out with friends. Not hanging out with one friend while simultaneously texting a few others, and thus half-listening to what the person you're with has to say. It seems mostly people, myself included, have been guilty of this and that's just plain sad. Texts can almost always wait and by not checking it right away you're telling the people you're with that they have your attention. In my experience, such a gesture does not go unnoticed.
