As the New Year draws near, some of us think about resolutions, in the hopes of making a positive change. And, I think about it also. Yes, I should probably go on a diet. Losing a few pounds might restore a little of the mobility I’ve lost on the tennis court. However, the diet I am advocating isn’t about food. It’s about cellphones.
Don’t get me wrong. Cellphones are a great thing. A cellphone is a convenient way for your kids to send you the “Practice is over; can you come pick me up?” message. There is an app you can use that allows you to know where your kids are, by tracking their cellphone location. I imagine that whoever invented that app should receive a Nobel Prize or something.
There are a number of ways in which my cellphone comes in handy. I play, teach, and officiate a sport that often is played outdoors. Checking out the weather on my phone is very helpful. Moreover, I can check out upcoming officiating assignments on my phone.
And yes, there are times where I am just looking for information. Like, when I’m wondering, “How many Firebird Trans Ams did Pontiac build in 1979?” Twenty seconds later, I have the answer (117,107, plus mine).
However, a while back, when the weekly usage figures came up on my phone, I looked at the number, and said to myself, “I spend that much time on my phone?”
I decided to do something about it; I felt that a cellphone should not dominate one’s life. I made some changes.
I cannot access social media via my phone. I have no intention of changing that. I’ll bet that if others did the same, their usage would be cut in half.
I do not take my phone when I go to the gym, or go to play tennis. At the gym, I want to finish the workout and get out. Recently, I was there, phoneless in Clearfield, and there was another gym member close by with his phone. I kept count, and I finished 12 sets of exercises in the time it took him to finish three, as he looked at his phone between each one.
I have avoided using my phone while driving since their inception. I might use the phone to start up some music before I start up the car, but that’s it. If a call comes up on my screen that I really should answer, I’ll take the next exit and take care of it.
And worst, it makes me shake my head is when I am in church, and teenagers come walking in with their phone in their back pocket. Unless you are a first responder, or someone who is on call for work, you don’t need your phone in church. There is only one message to be received in church, and He isn’t going to call you on your phone to deliver it.
It’s fair to say that, for many young people, a cellphone is basically an electric dog collar. When one is “wearing the collar,” one is missing out on everyday life. There seem to be lots of young people who can gaze at their phones for long periods of time, yet are unable to look an adult in the eye.
Back before cellphones were a thing, Glenn Frey and Don Henley of The Eagles wrote the song, “Hotel California,” which includes the line, “We are all just prisoners here…of our own device.”
So, why not take those words to heart? Don’t ditch your phone, but it might do you well to pay a little less attention to the phone, and a little more attention to what’s going on around you.
Lest you fall prey to the other Frey/Henley line from the same song…”You can check out any time you like…but you can never leave.”
