mePhones

The cold front that hit the tristate this week?  That was hell freezing over...unfortunately, I got an iPhone this week(actually Maren and I both got iPhones this week, AHH!).  I say unfortunately because ever since the iPhone came out I have despised them.  Its not the iPhone itself that I dislike, its the fact that around the same time the iPhone was released, everyone's cell phone etiquette flew out window faster than iPhones flew off the shelves.  Everyone got so wrapped up in what they could do on their "smart" phone that they forgot about what they could do without it.  Most of the "wonderful things" our phones do for us are just self serving nonsense, so I've dubbed them mePhones. 

I had planned on writing this post awhile ago, but never got around to it.  I was originally going to post my top reasons why I'll never get an iphone.  Since I'm now an iPhoner myself, I figured I better post it before I got fully adapted to my new lifestyle and became a complete hypocrite.  The problem was every time I started typing any of my ideas, I'd go off on a 3 paragraph rant that sounded like I hate all people who answer or try to use their phone. 

The truth is, I don't.  So instead of attempting to list all of my pet peeves about the lack of cell phone etiquette and how people abuse them, I'm going to try to keep it positive.  I'm skipping all the witty, sarcastic statements and funny quips that have been brewing in my mind for the past couple months.  Instead, I'd rather focus on a way to get us thinking about the topic instead of making fun of it. 

Cell phones can be a great tool to keep in touch with loved ones who live far away.  They are also a safety device that can help us in an emergency situation too.  But for the most part, they are just a huge distraction to our lives.  That is where my beef begins...

Don't let your phone become this big of a distraction...



Does your dinner table ever look like this?

Have we ever looked right past the people who are present with us to check a text msg or email from someone because our phone buzzes or dings?  How many times have we stopped a conversation or left the dinner table to answer our phone(especially when we don't even recognize the number!)?  How many times do we stop in the middle of a conversation to look up an answer to a question instead of continuing to discuss the question at hand?  How often do you and a loved one sit in the same room, and instead of talking together, we are buried in our phones or the TV or the computer?  What about giving our children the phone to play a game or watch a movie so they are occupied while we do something else?
 

Spending some quality time with dad and mom! 







 Are our phones really helping us accomplish more?  In reality, are we missing out on 'real' opportunities and 'real' experiences to chase something that could be better?  If your loved one is in the room, please stop reading my useless thoughts and talk to them.  Or invite them them to watch the video below with you.  Take 10minutes...turn off your phone...

 

 

How much noise does your phone cause in your life?  Besides the obvious rings, dings and buzzes, what other kind of noise does your phone create?  Try turning it off for an hour, 4 hours, or a whole weekend!  How would that change what you did?  What would you do instead?

My fear is that Maren and I end up becoming all the things I was originally going to make fun of when I started writing this article.  Hopefully we can find a way to shut out the noise!  Just some food for thought...