Cell Phone Usage

My blog post is inspired by this BuzzFeed article that I think is pretty entertaining:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/janeclaireh/16-things-cell-phones-have-made-less-awkward-cqtr

Basically, it is a list of all sorts of things that people use their cell phones for when they are in an uncomfortable or boring situation (in addition to some funny gifs as well - 1...7...14...).

While it is a humorous article, there is so much truth to it in a way that I find almost depressing.  It is no secret that cell phones have overtaken every single part of our lives, but I find it sad that we turn to our cell phones at every single boring or awkward situation.  While I never would pull out my cell phone out of respect for the other person on a bad date, if other people do actually do this, they need some manners in my opinion.  I find it very rude when I am at a restaurant with friends or even family and they pull out their cell phones to text others. 

We cannot even go minutes without using them.  This can be said by the examples that the list provides such as when a professor goes on a tangent or when you're even in the bathroom.  I even found myself with this problem when I had a very serious concussion a year ago and was told to use absolutely no electronics at all for a few days afterwards - I constantly wanted to check my phone.  I am definitely a culprit of quite a few examples on the list but it made me reflect on how prevalent cell phones really are and how much people rely on them. 

Sometimes I wish that people felt less of this giant need to use them as a social tool.  I think so much texting takes away from the organic nature of the human relationships.  It's changed the way teenagers and young adults today interact and form relationships.  Nowadays, I find in conversations with my friends when we're talking about other men, the phrase "do you guys text a lot?" is always a factor in how close we potentially are.

This article really helped me reflect on cell phone usage and how it's changed the social dynamic quite a bit since their release.  I hope it does for others too.