Nothing frustrates me more than society sometimes. Nowadays, it seems that every 4-year-old in America has an iPad to entertain them; it makes me nostalgic for the days of Barbie dolls and playing outside. Technology is completely consuming our lives, specifically our phones. I know we all roll our eyes when our parents lecture us about the loss of communication skills in our generation, but I’m starting to realize everything they said has some merit to it.
Not only are our communication skills diminishing, but our social skills are slowly deteriorating the more we rely on our phones to keep us company. I find it fascinating how every time I get on a bus to class, every single person on that bus either has their headphones in or is staring down at their screen for the entirety of the ride. Now, I’m not saying you have to strike up a conversation with every person you sit next to, but would it kill people to converse a little? I asked my friend what she would do if, hypothetically, she got on the bus one day and the person next to her just struck up a conversation. Her response was, “Well that would be weird.” But why does it have to be out of the ordinary to actually talk to each other?
But it’s not only just on the buses, it’s everywhere. One day I sat in the back of a 300 person lecture hall and 99.9 percent of people had their heads down staring at their phones before class started. I’ve seen groups of people eating together in the dining hall, but they’ll all be on their phones instead of conversing with each other. I cannot be the only person that thinks that is totally ridiculous, right?
Our generation has lost any sense of social interaction. It seems frowned upon to be sitting alone somewhere and not be on your phone. I always see people waiting for their friends somewhere, and instead of just patiently waiting, they bury their heads so it appears that they are so busy with external things that they can’t be bothered to simply live in the moment. Is being on your phone supposed to make you look any cooler than a person who isn’t? Do people think that others will think they are more important or popular by always being on their phone? We all know in reality those people aren’t texting back 100 of their closest friends. They're playing Trivia Crack or refreshing Twitter and Instagram on repeat just to avoid looking anyone in the eye.
I don’t know if phones serve as a sort of security blanket for people, or if everyone is so bored with the world around them that they feel their phones offer entertainment and distraction. But what I do know is that there is a whole world around us that we miss out on when our heads are down consumed by the screen in our hands. You might walk right by your future husband, or miss seeing a great sunset, or completely miss the curb of a sidewalk and face plant (I’ve see that on campus WAY too many times).
My final comment to conclude my rant is this: pick your head up. Look around you. Live in the moment. Smile at a stranger sitting across from you on the bus. People watch. Literally do anything else that doesn’t revolve around your phone. You’d be surprised at some of the things you’ve been missing!
