"Smartphones: social connections that disconnect the once social."

Albert Einstein said, "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots." I think that day may be upon us.

How many times have you seen couples out on a date at a fancy restaurant and hardly talk to each other, instead looking at the glowing, addictive screen in each of their hands? How many times have you seen teenagers hanging out with one another yet seem unable to look up from their phones? How many times have you been that person- investing in social connections through a screen instead of a personal connection with the human in front of you? I have been there. I have been that person. In one form or another, we all have. No matter the form of social media that sparks our interest, whether that be Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook, something in the screen has taken our attention away from the people around us.

Disclaimer: I am about to tell you something that will shock you.

I have never owned a smartphone.

I have rocked a flip phone since the sixth grade. The phone I currently have, my fourth flip phone, has not died in five days. The T9-Word system broke about a year ago so I have gotten really good at texting in such a way that requires me to push the #6 button three times to get to the letter "o." The phone's camera has only recently begun to work again after I dropped it especially hard on the concrete... Of course, I drop my phone all the time and the back will fly off along with the battery. I just pick up the pieces of the phone, hook them back together and move on. It's invincible. It's indestructible. But it's a dumb phone.

There have been many a time that I have been lost driving down the road and could not find my way because my phone is not capable of finding directions for me. I have an iPod on which I screenshot directions before I leave wifi but if there is construction or the route is incorrect, there is almost nothing I can do about it but be lost. There have been times I wished I could listen to Spotify or swipe through Pinterest while sitting in an airport rather than reading a book. While the inconvenience of not having a smartphone is often frustrating, I appreciate the simplicity of the life I lead with only a flip phone.

I cannot tell you how many times strangers have seen me using a flip phone and freaked out because they have not seen a flip phone in years. People have literally asked if they could touch it because it's so "vintage." I'm really not a hipster in the slightest but I am sure people have seen me using an old phone and placed me in that category. People often assume my smartphone is broken and I have to use a flip phone for the time being; they freak out when I correct them.

When I am in a group and we are lost, no one ever expects me to be the one to look up directions. While people frantically search GoogleMaps for our destination, I just sit back and enjoy the ride. There was a time when two friends and I used public transportation to go to a far away mall to see a movie. The bus schedule was pretty tight for the return trip home and it was imperative that we made it on a certain bus at the right time because that would be the last bus of the night coming by that specific stop. Unfortunately, both of my friends smartphones died on the way back and the two got pretty nervous about getting lost. But because my flip phone battery never dies, we were able to call and get a ride. Another time a large group of girls and I went ice skating and we got stuck at a bus stop for 45 minutes in the snow in Denver. Everyone's smartphones froze in the cold and could not do anything. Again, my flip phone saved the day and we used that to call a taxi.

People, especially young adults, are telling me more and more often that they wished they could go back to a flip phone. People express that they cannot control themselves when it comes to social media and that they wish they had the strength to just cut themselves off from it and only use a phone for texting and calling. I am sure I would be in the exact same boat if I had access to a smartphone. I don't have a flip phone because I think it is cool or even because I am trying to make a statement. But either way I am thankful for this because owning a flip phone in today's day and age has taught me a lot about human interaction.

I have nothing against smartphones. They are convenient. They are easy. In some cases, they are necessary. But with this article I would like to encourage you to put down the phone every once and a while. Leave it home for a day. Look in people's eyes when you talk to them. Compliment someone in person instead of simply hitting "like" on their Facebook photo. Your life will go on without a smartphone. Mine has!