What are cell phones preventing you from achieving in life?

So this is my second fluff entry and it’s about cell phones.

Full Disclosure: I own a cellphone and use it relatively frequently from time to time. However the impolite, odd and unsafe way people use this technology amazes me sometimes. The other day (during the same shift as the “check” lady) the following occured.

A young woman walks in. I would guess she is similar to my age. She young, fit and I think, reasonably attractive. The bonus however is she is wearing a Boston Marathon jacket. Can you say perfect conversation starter? However, there is a red flag: she has a cell phone glued to the side of her face.

She walks around looking for stuff and I take a few customers. Dear society as a whole: listening to you talk when you aren’t talking to a real person is annoying and confusing. Finally after 5-10 minutes and still on the phone she comes up with one bag of almonds. Now in a perfect world I would say “So did you run Boston this year?” She would say “Why yes I did, did you?” and a lively conversation would strike up about running.

Instead she informs her friend she is in a mini-mart getting a snack.

Again Dear, Dear society: Don’t do this! It’s admittedly a small thing but it really is dehumanizing. When you are running a quick errand, hang up the phone and treat whoever you come into contact as a human being, not as a mere conversation add-on.

But lets take this a bit further just for fun. Suppose (in the perfect world) our lively conversation turns into the very unlikely event that we connect on an unseen level. I ask if she wants to hang out sometime and she leaves me her number. Our date parlays into an incredibly successful relationship and in a few years time, marriage. We start a habit of running the Boston Marathon annually.

Instead, she pays for her almonds and leaves, no words exchanged between the two of us.

So I ask what fantastically improbable joys in life are you missing out on because of overuse of cell phones?

On a Side note I have less than a month till I leave for training and hopefully will have some exciting (and slightly more serious) updates soon. Stay tuned.