Column: Phone getting in the way of socializing
Published April 16, 2010
Don't get me wrong, I am far from against technology.
My laptop is such a large part of my life that whenever I am on a break, I have to spend the first few days in a sort of detox.
I rejoiced when the MU School of Journalism required the purchase of iPod touches, because it made an excuse for me to get one.
That iPod is well used, though not particularly in the manner the journalism school had in mind.
My cell phone is what I would consider my least glamorized gadget, a phone sturdy enough to withstand the many drops it receives on account of my clumsiness and still call home and keep me in touch with my friends, text, take pictures and play music.
It's never far from my side, often in my pocket and comfortingly reliable.
But that's just the thing: It's often in my pocket. Having been exceedingly busy in high school, I never got into the habit of being one of those people who is constantly texting.
If I am texting someone, there's a reason behind it, from simple utility texts like "when do we leave?" to short blips of information with friends just as busy and unable to hold long telephone conversations frequently.
The type of texts that don't come from my phone are the "Hey what's up?," "I'm bored" and "Me too."
Texts like those seem so prevalent today.
I'm bringing this up not to preach about meaningful texting, but to preach instead about in what circumstances there is a time and a place to restrict the texting to meaningful, most particularly social situations.
Over winter break, I rode to the basketball games with my family, using my student tickets and sitting down in the student section.
Most my friends here who do have tickets either live out of state or were unable to attend for other reasons. This left me by myself, not knowing anyone. For some reason, that statement is condemning in today's society.
We seem to never want to be alone in public anymore.
Although the security of knowing someone and being with friends is always nice and comforting, there is nothing wrong with attending something by yourself. Your interests and availabilities will not and should not be identical to your best friends'.
So why is everyone so afraid to admit they're alone? It's not hard to tell when you're sitting alone and not talking to anyone that you're by yourself.
There really is no shame in that; there are any number of reasons someone can be alone, and none of them means you have no friends or aren't cool enough. You're just somewhere by yourself.
What's even worse about this is when I was at those games by myself, I was surrounded by people in similar situations.
No one was talking, and when there wasn't anything on the floor to be paying attention to, the attention of most people went right to their cell phones.
Instead of being a student section where people were meeting their fellow students and interacting, people were interacting only through their cell phones.
Trying to interact with other people didn't do much good, either. All I received were a few strange looks and some scooting away.
Come on, people. I don't bite. I just want to chat a bit with those in my vicinity.
Next time you're at a game or what have you alone, don't feel like hiding behind your phone will make it any better. It only makes it more obvious and further separates you from the people around you.
No one's going to judge you for being alone, so go ahead and smile and say "Hi." Who knows, you might realize the next week the person is in one of your classes or something.
Dare I say you might make a new friend?