There is a discussion that needs to be had.

We need to talk about being present in your current situation and cell phone usage. Maybe I should say cell phone addiction. Put the fucker down. Embrace the ones you are with. be exactly where you are.

I have two sisters. One is older and one is younger. The younger one came eight years after I did.  Growing up we spent quite a bit of time together.  We shared a room and once I was driving age I took her to school and often picked her up also.  I always stressed independence with her.  Maybe that was to make my life easier, but I believe it would be good for her to have that in the world. 

And she was an independent kid, lost in her books. This kid was a total nerd. Book worm.  All she did was read, she was constantly in a book.

This was before cell phones, smartphones, social media, and the internet at your fingertips.

She would read while she ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And that was all fine and good if she was eating alone. When I was there I would make her put her book down. This would infuriate her. She was this little kid who was addicted to reading.  But I would make it a point to her that if another human was in the room with you, you needed to put the book down and have human contact.  You needed to have conversation, discussions and be present with the ones you were with.

Respect for your loved ones

I felt and still feel, that this was a respect to those who were in your presence. And that most of us had plenty of alone time to read or be in our heads. That could be saved for a later time. This is gone. Not with the little sister. But with the world and the invention of the cell phone in everyone’s hand. You can sit at the kitchen table, share a home-cooked meal then turn to your cell phone and not have conversation. That hurts. People don’t even talk to each other anymore.

Where are your values?

We have lost a valuable connecting piece. Being present in a moment. Valuing the moment for just that, the moment. Valuing the presence of our people. When you pick up your phone you are telling me that what I am saying or even my presence is no longer important to you. I turn off. Our conversation is done. You made it that way and are so unaware. You have made me second best. I do not accept second best.  

Tangent, PSA, call it what you want…I call it cell phone addiction

Want to know what is wrong with our children? Why they shoot up schools? They do not know how to talk to each other, they do not know how to interact. They are ignored. Their feelings are ignored. Not discussed, not even brought to light. Everyone just turns to their phones and buries their heads in the sand. The children turn to their phones.

We have to have human touch, and human interaction. Human love. To know that someone hears you and is listening, that you have value in this world.

Even if you are just sitting with someone and not talking, you should not pick up your phone. As soon as your phone is picked up you are telling that person that they are less important than just being in the moment with them. 

Practice being in the moment.

Read about cell phone addiction. Work on some of the steps to put it down.