The Curse of the Smartphone

I’m so happy to see increasing calls for people to put down their smartphones. It’s about time. I think driving became much more dangerous once people started texting while driving. I hate seeing parents out pushing their little ones in strollers or grocery carts and completely ignoring them because they’ve found someone more interesting on their phones. Then there are the people who can no longer hold a face-to-face conversation with another person without repeatedly checking their phones. Ugh!

I do think cell phones are great for security. I bought my first cell phone about 20 years ago, and I still have a dumbphone. The beauty of it is that I can put it in my pocket on mute and hardly know that it’s there, but if my car doesn’t start, I can give my husband a call without leaving the vehicle. Occasionally, I’ll send one of my kids a text to let them know my ETA, but otherwise I rarely text and don’t really understand what on earth is so important that people need to be calling or texting each other all the time, especially while they’re shopping, at the doctor’s office, etc.

I have to wonder if my dislike of smartphones is just a sign of my impending old age. Are there any young people out there who think like I do? I doubt it.