While making my way to a comfy booth in the coffee shop, I glanced at the one just behind it, and what a surprise!
There were three young guys there, and they were playing a board game! Yes, I'm serious. No smart phones, no ear buds, no vacant stares! Instead, extreme focus, actual conversation with each other, and they were obviously having fun. Admittedly their game wasn't monopoly, it was Magic, a more glitzy new gen board game. |
I guess it was then that I realised how common it's become to see folks of all ages engrossed in their smart phones, and whatever they're doing on them. You see them any time you go out, of course, to the point now that it's kind of unusual when someone isn't gazing downwards as they walk.
I've never been able to understand this...this compulsion to be available and checking your phone at every spare minute that comes into your life. As I walk I'm checking trees, hedges, flowers, buildings and anything that looks interesting. My phone is the last thing I'd be looking at.
Uh oh! Unfortunately that is the last thing too many smartphone users have been busy with before they departed on their final journey from this life.
At the time of writing this Honolulu, Hawaii has just enacted a penalty fine for anyone texting while crossing a street. It goes without saying texting while driving is legally outlawed in many cities, provinces and states these days. But texting while walking can have equal deadly consequences.
Community gardens are springing up, libraries are popular, so are various crafts and skills that draw people together and hand down the knowledge from older folks experience to young people.
Intergenerational is a big buzzword today. Teens are showing a huge amount of interest in volunteering, and building relationships with older folks, who have much to offer in a very personal way. It's great to see this happen.
Thanks for reading, and sharing this might well save some lives! Meantime, it’s healthy to be aware of what’s happening around you. It’s called defensive texting!