In a coffee shop today, I discreetly observed an elderly man with his two granddaughters, young teens who had just finished a sports game. My heart broke for him as he tried to engage them, smiling as he talked proudly about one girl’s great kick, or recounting gleefully about a dexterous move the other pulled off in the game’s final minutes.
He got only grunts and rolling eyes in response. They barely looked up from their phones, hypnotized by their screens.
Many others around us were similarly glued to their screens, as they had coffee and chatted with friends.
Neighbors have a great rule when they go out to dinner: all the phones go in the center of the table — and the first to check their phone has to pay the bill. Fantastic! Remember how we used to reminisce, tease, and debate over some detail, like which actor starred in that movie, or when a certain rock band came to town? Now, someone just whips out a phone to fact-check, when having the answer isn’t usually pivotal.
What’s a Savvy Girl to do? How do you manage the small screen? And how do you handle it when friends or family can’t tear themselves away from their screens?
Recent Comments