Monday, July 1, 2013

Textaholics

Regardless of whether these pictures prove, as Buzzfeed suggests, that society is doomed, they are not good news.

Others more savvy than I have bemoaned the fact that Americans of all ages, but especially the young, are so hooked up to their iPhones that they have lost touch with their fellow humans.

I posted about it here. Sherry Turkle wrote a book about it here.

By all appearances, these people are hooked on texting. For today I am calling them textaholics. They do it to the exclusion of all else, and especially, of everyone else.

Here are a few samples.

Girl's lunch: 

This picture of old friends reminiscing about the good old days over a delicious brunch:


School's out:
This picture of graduating seniors leaving high school for the last time, finally free from the shackles of standardized education:


Family dinner:

This picture of a wonderful family giving thanks for all their blessings at Thanksgiving dinner:


For the rest, check out the link to Buzzfeed.

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3 comments:

  1. George BoggsJuly 1, 2013 at 7:23 AM

    A month or so ago, I was scheduled for breakfast with a friend. My friend was late, so I was enjoying a cup of coffee and people-watching. And this scene unfolded:

    A family of four, obviously on vacation, arrived at table - Mom, Dad, and two teenagers, a boy and a girl. The waitress arrived and passed out menus. All four perused the menus with a bit of discussion about who was ordering what. Waitress takes the order and leaves, and all four pull out a smartphone. Not a word was exchanged at the table until the food arrived (about 15 minutes). Not. A. Word. All four were completely engaged in the phones.

    Weird.

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  2. LordSomberJuly 1, 2013 at 8:41 AM

    I see whole families like this in public all the time. It's disrespectful to the company one is with. Parents should be nipping this in the bud, but today's parents are useless anyway.

    People like to blame technology, but there were always rules of thumb for people's behavior. "No phones at the dinner table" applied, even when phones had cords.

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  3. AnonymousJuly 1, 2013 at 1:21 PM

    Relativism has left us all in this predicament. After all, who are we to say that electronic non-conversation is better than ofd-fashioned verbal conversation? If we have challenges being around the people we're with, we can always connect with those we prefer. It's great for relationships, especially for showing the ones you actually, really care about!

    I call people who look at the glowing box "MOTHS." It seems fitting. Attracted to the light, with the same level of brain power required.

    Tip

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