Beep. Beep. Beep. You wake up, shut off your alarm, and pick up your phone. You immediately start to scroll through all the social media you may have missed since you've been asleep. After about 15-20 minutes, you get up, get dressed and check your phone again. You get in the car, check your phone at every light. Get to lunch with your friend, check your phone while you are eating. You drive home, sit on the couch, scroll through Twitter while the TV is on. You shower, lay in bed, and scroll through social media again until you fall asleep. Repeat everyday for the rest of your life.
This routine may not seem too far fetched for some of us. Even I am guilty of this process at times. However, every since I have come to college, I have realized how much the importance of being off your phone is.
Making new friends.
For starters, you are never going to make friends if your face is being illuminated by the artificial light of your phone all the time. I cannot stress enough how important it is to just leave the phone in the room for the night, or at least silence it. When you are meeting new people, introduce yourself. Be kind. Twitter will still be there when you get back to your room. Just try to branch out and talk to people face-to-face.
Common Courtesy.
One of the things I hate the most is when people are being rung up in a store or on line at the bank and they are on their phone. By doing this, you are not only disrespecting the employee, you are disrespecting every single person on line behind you. You can put away the phone for two minutes while your overpriced shirts are being rung up. By being on your phone, it slows down the entire process, leading to a room of annoyed people. Don't be that person.
Dating.
I wholeheartedly support people branching out to meet someone online; it connects you to a larger amount of people in a shorter time. However, I am personally not a fan of a through-the-phone type of relationship. If you are constantly texting and never spending quality face-to-face time when you can, I do not understand what type of relationship that is. You shouldn't be afraid to talk to your significant other in person. When you think of going out on a date, you think of a nice romantic dinner with great conversation. Not texting "lol lysm" after having a three hour texting conversation of emojis.
Friendships.
I hate to say it, but I have become the friend who calls people out on their cell phone use all the time. Whenever my friends are on it for too long, I simply offer to take it away so they don't get distracted. Almost immediately, they become defensive, claiming they are not addicted as they make a Finsta post about what I said to them. The worst is when you are trying to have a conversation with someone, and they just go on their phone. This is my biggest pet peeve and I can name about ten of my friends who do it all the time. PUT THE PHONE DOWN. LISTEN TO YOUR FRIEND. The text messages you're getting from your friends, family, boyfriends, and girlfriends will still be there.
Overall, cell phones tend to impede the natural flow of conversation and adventure. Although they can be immensely useful, they are society's kryptonite.
