By Ektha Dsilva:
Often on hang-out dates with friends regardless of the place I’ve always witnessed awkward situations where in somewhere in the middle of the conversation the person in front of me would see his or her BB buzz/flash and pick it up and start punching keys into it (a phone with a touch-screen is even worse because there’s no scope for eye-contact). Let me draw up the scene for you, here’s how it is, eyes focussed on me, his/her mind framing the next sentence to me typed and fingers working at its best, punching keys. Man! *rolling my eyes* do you really think I will keep the conversation going when you are busy lol-ing or lmao-ing, pinging, poking, scheduling, comeback-ing away to glory?
I am totally not against smart phones and I’m certainly not from the ancient era. I love it that these phones are wonderful when it comes to making things easier. Give me directions to a place or entertain me when I’m trying to kill time not to mention give photos a wow-factor and all that. Using your smart phone is awesome. But definitely not when an important conversation is on, not when you are on a date, not when you are spending time with family, not when you are at a wedding/funeral/any event for that matter. You not only put the person in front of you into an awkward spot but you also end-up implying that they are not your priority and you are not mindful of your surroundings. Unless your wife is expected to go into labour anytime now and hence you are awaiting a call you cannot just keep glancing into your phone, I am sorry but that just doesn’t go down too well.
For goodness sake, retain the value of a good face to face conversation between two humans completely capable of having a talk. Multi-tasking is certainly not suitable for such scenarios and might make you look like a complete jerk. Staying connected is great but not just virtually.
Peace!