No one can deny that cell phones are an amazing technology, especially now in a day of smart phones, which not only allow us to communicate with each other any where that offers us cell phone service, but serve as a computer as well. It really is amazing to think about, we have an advanced computer that fits in our pockets, something people just a few decades ago probably never even thought about. But some of us will probably agree, there are also a few down sides to having such an advanced piece of technology available to us at all times. Our cell phones seem to almost overpower us a little bit, in that they distract us from the world around us. People now seem to be too encompassed in them and will ignore the others around them, but often those around them will not notice because they are encompassed in their own phones as well.

We will often use our phones to escape boredom when we are just waiting around, it’s a way to not only escape the boredom, but to look busy and not just stand awkwardly around. There really isn’t a problem with this, but there is a bit of a problem when we do this when others are around us. For instance, when you see or are at a table where everyone is on their phone ignoring everyone around them. Not only is that a little weird when you think about it, but it is also a little rude. When you do that, you are essentially telling everyone else around you that they are not interesting enough for you. While I’m not certain, I’m pretty sure that before smart phones, people wouldn’t pull out their books and begin to ignore everyone around them the way that we do with cell phones now. True, you might bring a book, or a magazine or a newspaper with you when you were in a waiting room where people were strangers, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t do this when you ate with your friends, instead you would probably do the normal thing and talk to other people.

Another problem with them, that shouldn’t exist, is that we text and drive. When you think about it, shouldn’t we not have to make laws telling people not to read something while they are driving a car, something that requires almost complete and full attention in order to not kill yourself and others. Yet we do have to tell people that, we have to actually tell people to ignore something that someone sent them for a little while so that they don’t kill somebody or even kill themselves. It’s amazing when you think about it really, we love our phones and what they have to offer so much, that we will risk our own lives and the lives of others just to read a message from somebody that probably is not even that important.

I don’t think anyone can really say that they aren’t attached to our cell phones, because we all seem to be able to catch ourselves ignoring everything around us for them. The cell phones aren’t the problems though, it’s us. We all just need to put them away every once and a while and just focus on the people and things around us.