By David Crow
Conversations
David Crow
You’ve got a cell phone, I’m sure. I want you to stop reading this for a minute and take a look at it. When you get done looking at it start reading again. I’ll wait.
Ask yourself a question: Where was it in relation to you? I’ll bet it was within reach.
Now ask yourself another question. When was the last time it wasn’t within reach?
Well, it kind of has to be for it to be of any value to you, right? I mean, if the thing isn’t in reach it can’t do what you want it to do. So it kind of makes sense that it is pretty much always in reach. However, that answer begs the next question.
Why is your cell phone always in reach?
I asked myself that very question recently. Everywhere I am I’ve almost always got my cell phone within reach. It’s either in my hand, in a pocket or on some nearby flat surface. I have a feeling it’s the same for you. You can probably reach it even when it’s charging.
Our cell phones have become routine equipment. They’re as much a part of our daily outfit as our wallets and keys. If we don’t have them near us, we feel like we forgot something.
But that doesn’t tell us why we have our cell phones within reach almost all the time.
I’ve asked that question of other people lately. Some people said it helped them stay connected to work. Some said it helped them stay connected to friends. Some said it helped them stay connected to family. And some said it helped them stay connected to the world. In the end they all boiled down to one answer: I need it to stay connected to other people.
I admit that was the reason I gave for having my cell phone within reach all the time. But then I started taking a good hard look about how I was using it. Truthfully all that “connectivity” wasn’t very helpful when it came to staying connected to people.
Think honestly about how you use your cell phone. If you’re honest you’ll admit that you use our cell phones as a way to filter and prioritize rather than connect.
When I was young and the phone rang, we had to answer it to find out who was on the other end. It was kind of exciting because the phone didn’t ring that much back then. Maybe it was the same when you were a kid. However, now we get calls, texts and emails on our cell phones all day long, but we answer them less than we did when the phone was a giant, jangly black box with a dial sitting on the phone table (Google “phone table” if you don’t believe me). Text was what came after the title of the book, and mail was hand delivered by the postman.
Our cell phones compile a list of people we’ll answer immediately, people we’ll call, text or email back later and people we just never seem to get around to connecting with. Instead of a tool to help us connect it’s become a personal assistant that everyone has to deal with before they get to speak to the boss. It becomes a kind of barrier to personal contact with others we don’t feel like talking with at the moment:
I’m as bad as the next guy, so don’t get offended by this observation. I would encourage you to try, as I am trying, to relearn how to live without a cell phone in easy reach at all times even if only for a little bit. You might meet the most important people you’ll ever meet while your cell phone is resting on some out-of-reach surface. As for the people calling, texting and emailing, I promise they won’t know the difference.
Until next time, y’all come out!