Open Thread Update: Phone Fatigue
Cellphone frustrations were a hot topic for readers, especially concerning cellphone etiquette – or lack of it.
There were fewer comments than usual, but they were mostly longer, well-thought out….and annoyed with the assumed primacy of cellphones over any other type of communication.
Cellphone peeve #1: The Medical Profession
I”m not the only one annoyed that medical staff ignores patient requests and calls/leaves messages on cellphone numbers, even when we specify landlines. Reader Diana put it most thoroughly and specifically.
…”the medical profession is completely unsympathetic to life’s niceties. Deal with this now or lose the appointment or do without the medication!”
-Diana
Cellphone Peeve #2: Cellphones over people
Several readers – Diana, Cee, Ellen and Pamela – bemoaned the growing instinct to ignore the person in front of you in favor of the phone.
“If I am out with friends, it is because I want to see them and converse with them, not watch them while they text or look at pictures they have on their phones.”
-Cee
Cellphone Peeve #3: What it’s doing to us
While we can commiserate about cellphone issues (link to a previous article about them here), some readers pointed to bigger and more troubling issues…including phone addiction. Jonathan, Pamela, Cee and Diana sounded the alarms over what the obsession with cellphones is doing to friendships, society and our minds.
“…life is too important and exciting to have it constantly interrupted by bells, beeps and bull.”
-Pamela
We’ll keep this thread open for a while to give others a chance to weigh in. Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments!
Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; her blog “Don’t Get Me Started” puts a quirky new spin on Old School New York City. Send your suggestions for Open Threads to her at editor@seniorplanet.org.
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Comments
I found it very ironic that right after this open thread there was an announcement about how to use Tik Toc. I would like (probably unrealistically) for people to use their phones less and interact more in person.
How interesting that I come across this topic this afternoon, as I was out before and waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Diagonally across the intersection was a young man, who had 2 nice dogs on leashes, one small, the other larger. His phone was up near his face, he never, for one second, glanced at the dogs, who were well behaved. I don’t know if they were both his or if he was a dog walker, but either way, how sad. He was definitely not in the moment of being out with two lovely dogs and the poor dogs might as well have been invisible as receiving any sort of communication or loving treatment from him. When the light turned in his favor, he started moving like a zombie, phone still in his face.
I see that all the time in our suburban neighborhood. People looking down at their phone screens or talking while walking the dog. It’s an addiction.
Smartphone addiction is here to stay. Get some earbuds!
People were never very interesting anyway.
I was in a group with a woman who shared that she couldn’t bring herself to turn off her phone at night. I was in a bird sanctuary with a friend who couldn’t understand why I was upset that she was on the phone. I watched a parent in a restaurant with their children and didn’t get off the phone even after the food came. I think these people are addicted.
I haven’t allowed myself to become so attached to my phone. I think life is too important and exciting to have it constantly interrupted by bells, beeps and bull.
My career was in Telecommunications so my phone is very important to me. This does not stop me from speaking to people and using social media because I have a very large family that not only lives in the US but the UK as well. Texting is a great method of communicating when you are planning on meeting someone or just need to to shoot off a brief message as well as receiving messages from your Pharmacy concerning a proscription renewal or pickup.. I have been told by my Grandkids’ that they no longer use email and Facebook has been replaced with Instagram, both of which are owned by the same company.