Trending Misery (II)
Obodai and I attended a friend’s party recently. The conversation which took place while we sat was quite slow, owing to the social mix – not all of us matched very well.
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About an hour into sitting, I realised something very interesting: almost everyone had turned their attention to their phones. Two out of the six people who were on the dance floor, were dancing to the beat of the highlife music, and at the same time texting skillfully on their phones.
I wasn’t surprised at that dual act at all. After all it isn’t uncommon seeing some drivers behind their steering wheels speeding and texting at the same time. What at all are phones doing to our society?
It was such a bad party experience at that venue. I thought Obodai and I were the only persons who had observed the “technology drive”. But when a woman we offered a lift whilst leaving the premises, commented on the unsociable smartphone-invaded environment at the party, we all agreed that society was actually collapsing little by little.
The woman went ahead to tell us something she observed in a restaurant recently: “My partner and I went to a Chinese restaurant a few days ago. On the table next to us was a family, comprising a mother, three teenage children (two girls and a boy), and a grandmother. Two of them used smartphones whilst the rest, apart from the old lady, had iPads.
“At one point, every one of them were either texting or browsing while they ate. They rarely chatted with each other, and I felt so sorry for the old woman. To tell you the truth, cell phones are reducing the quality of our communication in society and the earlier we do something about it, the better.
“Gone are the days when we attended parties so we can network with others. Some of us even got boyfriends from the parties we attended. These days, these young girls go to parties and just get so hooked on to their cell phones, iPads and what have you. Then they complain they are not getting suitors. It’s all like a joke!”
I believe cell phones have their good sides. But why should we have to be at others beck and call so badly as not to be able to turn off our phones or refuse to text back or return a call when time spent with our loved ones is of the essence?
One thing that puts me off is when I am in a chat with somebody and they cut into the conversation to answer a phone call which cannot be classified as urgent. I have had to walk away on a few occasions. The act just exasperates me. Agh, cell phones have a way of dampening intimate conversation. It’s terrible.
The other day, a vehicle nearly knocked down a pedestrian at the bus stop near my office. He had plugged in his earphones and was listening to the radio on his cell phone; he therefore couldn’t hear the hooting of the vehicle in whose path he found himself.
Oh, gone are the days when we carried huge huge Bibles to church; when one’s level of Christianity could be judged by one’s size of his or her Bible. Presently, I look around in church and I feel very archaic. Just a few others like me carry Bibles to church. Most people flip through or scroll up or down the scriptures on their phones and tablets when the priest mentions them for referral. Technology is really changing our society.
We used to have sword drills in church to improve our knowledge of the books in there. All these activities are out of date. Thanks to cell phones and iPads. Just call out a group of say, five youthful members of a congregation, hand over to them, Bibles, and ask them to open to books like Nahum, Micah, Habakkuk or Zephaniah.
I am almost sure four out of the lot will refer to the table of content to find where the pages of those names are. They have become used to their electronic Bibles.
I was telling you last week about my friend whose husband’s smartphone had become her rival. The man’s every waking moment is ruled by his phone. The situation is growing from bad to worse. Somehow, she thinks the lady who gave the phone to her husband as a gift may have “black-magiced” the device before bringing it to her home. How can a small mobile device in the name of a smartphone ruin a once joyful marriage? Eh?
I have asked her to have a serious discussion with her husband about the woes his phone is causing, and this was what she had to say, “Ablah, as for that discussion, it’s almost always on repeat. I have said it aaaaaaa, I am tired! I have even told him I want a divorce but he doesn’t seem to take me serious. All he keeps asking me is, “how can a pastor’s wife divorce her husband because of a simple phone? Everyone would think you are not serious”.
Somehow, I am optimistic things will work out for them. But really, if you ask me what the most important feature on a phone is, I will say, “the off button”. May we have the power to press the off button when it becomes necessary.
When in 1878 Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, made his first phone call, I don’t think he least thought of what the advancement of that device would eventually cause mankind.
Motorola introduced the first cellphone in 1980, and some 13 or so years after, in 1993, IBM and BellSouth developed the first basic Smartphone which had a touch screen. I doubt if they equally knew what their inventions would cause to physical communication.
Today, advanced smartphones have the tendency of talking to people when set to do so, answer questions, turn off the lights of your home in your absence, open doors and even watch movies. Can you imagine?