Give Up Your Cell Phone For Lent!

Let me preface this rant with a disclaimer. I am hardly ever more than a couple of feet from my cell phone. Early on, I set the dubious precedent that if someone texts me, I will generally respond within 10 minutes. When my kids were all still living at home, the cell phone was our lifeline for rides, permissions requested and the occasional SOS. Now that the nest is mostly empty, my boys and I text each other often as a convenient means of staying in touch. So I understand the allure of being "connected."

Lately, however, I’ve noticed that this connectedness exacts a price. As I waited for tech support, ironically, at the Apple store the other day, I observed that a good 80 percent of the people in the store were either talking on their phones or texting.

The woman waiting next to me for a diagnosis of her computer issue was busily texting. I absentmindedly checked my phone as well for new messages. At that point, it occurred to me that back in the "old days," she and I probably would have struck up a conversation while we waited.

As I headed back to my car, I was acutely aware of all the people walking through the mall either talking or texting on their phones. Even some people walking together were talking on their phones instead of to each other.

I was most frustrated when I saw a parent talking on a cell phone instead of to the child whose hand they were holding, but I tried not to jump to conclusions. Maybe the parent was making a quick call to the other parent or a sibling to arrange for a place to meet. Maybe ...

The scene reminded me of a news report about how neglected young children feel when their parents are addicted to their cell phones. Sometimes the unfortunate solution to this problem is to give a cell phone or hand held video game to the child so that everyone can be happily occupied. Once in the car, the parent can talk on a hands-free device while the kids watch a video on a screen in front of them.

A friend who teaches nursery school told me that one child’s parent doesn’t even stop talking on her phone long enough to say hello to the teachers or to say goodbye to the child she is dropping off.

If we only stay connected with the immediate circle of friends and family in our address books we miss the chance to become part of a larger community. Of course technology is a wonderful tool. Of course many people will call me a dinosaur.

But, as I said at the beginning of this rant, I am as much a fan of the cell phone as the next person. I just think it would be a grand experiment for people to turn off their phones for even an hour a day as they go about their business. Take time to smile and chat with the people waiting in line no farther away than your elbow at the grocery store.

And to parents especially, talk with the child hanging on your every word before you blink and find they are no longer listening.