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Put the smartphone down and talk to folks

We are rapidly becoming a society with electronic gadgetry permanently attached to our hand. Instead of talking to one another, we are losing a great opportunity for visiting to the cloud.
Written by James Kendrick, Contributor

We are rapidly becoming a society with electronic gadgetry permanently attached to our hand. This was driven home to me today when having a wonderful brunch with family members in town for a visit. We were sitting outside in a beautiful restaurant, enjoying the nice weather and tapping on our smartphones. I realized what we were doing when the conversation at our table lagged, and no fewer than five phones were being tapped with abandon. What a great opportunity for visiting was being lost to the cloud.

We weren't the only ones either, once I noticed what my party was doing I looked around the restaurant and easily saw two dozen phones in hands. The need to be in touch with the happenings in the world has overshadowed our need as humans to be in close touch with each other. It no longer seems to matter that there is a lot we can learn from those around us, in person and up close. We have become a society that needs to be in touch with everything, everywhere.

The need to hear what's going on in the world is important, don't get me wrong. But there's a time and place for everything, and let's face it, that time is not when sitting down with friends and family. Let's put down the phone and talk to each other. We're nice people, let's hear what each other has to say.

Image credit: Flickr user Wonderdawg777

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