Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Are you addicted to your cell phone?

About a year and a half ago, I surprised Victoria by doodling her a pair of Converse for her birthday:

If you want to see the full details, you can go to my old and neglected and pretty much abandoned Deviant Art page. I'm a very visual person, and that site is my favorite place to go to be inspired. (Er, when viruses aren't attacking me, which they often do through that website, so I guess this is a warning to you or something? To not drop the bar of soap while you're there?)

It was thoroughly challenging, and I'm supposed to do it again, but it's such a tedious process, and it was about a million degrees at the time, with thunderstorms, and a surprising lack of Advil for my back after hunching over the shoes all day.

But, as I've noticed, people don't really see the shoes when Victoria wears them. People are increasingly buried nose-deep in their phones -- while in their cars, in classrooms, or even walking from one place to the next. More than enough times someone has very nearly collided with me because they wouldn't look up from their phone for half a second, and that's both on the road and simply walking. I seriously need pedestrian insurance against other pedestrians now.

I'm an introvert by nature. I don't really engage in much conversation because I'm socially inept. I'm the type that's conscious of everything I say or do or where I'm looking or how I'm fidgeting or if I'm being weird.

I mean, I AM weird.

But.

I'd rather people didn't readily know that.

So, for the most part, I used to like to sit and listen to people. Yes, I'm the weird girl that listens to one girl badmouth another girl -- or one boy badmouth another boy, either way. I find I don't get to do that anymore, because people interact less and less and less.

Class used to have more people awkwardly engaging in conversation before the session began. Now, everyone's on their phones, talking to people they already know, not really meeting anyone new. People are engaged less and less in their surroundings. Once when I was walking through a mall, I watched a mother and daughter walking side-by-side, both of them texting on their phones and probably talking to each other.

I was like:


And, well, maybe they have their reasons. Maybe Mom runs her business through her phone, and that's why she's on her phone all the time.

If that's the case, I might say she's instead addicted to her business.

Addiction, in any case, is baaaaad.

It's an interesting concept, though. What if, in the future, we're all addicted to our phones or tablets or computers, and we share little contact, and see the world always through a screen? Technology is doing more and more for us -- heck, cars will be able to drive US in the near future (which is sort of a blessing). What happens when we only know how to see each other through screens? What happens when the digital world takes over the physical world?

Personally, I think I might go live amongst the trees and talk to all of them and name them and gossip about them when they're not looking.

What do you think?

3 comments:

  1. I agree! I personally have to constantly tell my sister to get off her phone when she is driving, I'm surprised she hasn't gotten a ticket for texting. But I too think that communication is lacking now, but what sucks is for the shy people because as it is they have a hard time speaking now its even worse with all the technology and trying to find a way to talk to people without bugging them.

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    1. Oh yes, the worst part is that statistics show that driving while texting compromises your ability to drive equivocally to that of driving while drunk! I have to tell my father to STOP IT. I do know someone who got into an accident while they were texting (and the worst part is that they were doing the voice-recognition texting, and they happened to glance down at their screen to make sure the words were right, and then BAM, rear-ended someone).

      And I totally know. Introverts have a tough time with it. So now (as I noticed yesterday, actually), I simply watch people during class breaks whip out their phones and talk to no one until the break's over. It's so sad! It's like we all have social anxiety now!

      And thank you :] I wish I had the patience to do more! Hahaha *dead*

      --Sarah

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