When I pull my cell phone out of my pocket, people stare at me like I just offered to perform surgery with the aid of a rusty knife and a bottle of grain alcohol. Its clamshell design and extra large buttons scream that I am someone's grandmother who fears technology. Maybe, I do, but my ipad would disagree as I rub my greasy fingers on its face. I do fear that we spend too much time looking at screens and not enough time looking at the faces of real people.
As I ate dinner at a restaurant with my husband one day, I noticed a couple of grandparents with their grandkids. Both kids occupied their time with staring at the screens of tablets while the adults talked. My mind wandered, reviewing the little bit I remember about the time I spent with my grandparents. I wouldn't have those memories if I spent my time with them playing games or watching videos. I felt bad for those children. Someday, they'll regret that lost time, but they were happy and quiet in the moment, so why should anyone care?
Adults also follow the glowing leader. We pull out our phones during work meetings and church services to make sure we didn't miss an email, post, tweet, or comment. I have sat behind people checking their email on their smart phones, who looked annoyed when they had to bow their heads to pray. Then as someone else shared a message that they had spent a week perfecting, this person just kept scrolling. They looked up once, when the next speaker started speaking, but quickly refocused on the glowing screen in their hand. Are we getting the benefits of being in a place if we don't even listen to the material presented there?
Don't fret. I recognize the benefits of smart phones and tablets. I love being able to carry my scriptures wherever I go without throwing my shoulder out of whack. (Keep in mind that my scriptures include The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and The Doctrine and Covenants, as well as copious footnotes, maps, a dictionary, and other informative appendices.) I also have a hymn book, which includes sound files for most of the hymns, and as many resources as I care to download. I even have talks from General Conference dating back to 1971 at my fingertips (by my estimate, about 3,612 talks). That's amazing. Of course, I also have games and other apps to distract my mind and help me unwind.
The issue? How we choose to use these resources. We choose to distract our children rather than talk to them. We choose to worry about what our friends post on facebook rather than what the friend sharing a meal with us has to say. We even interrupt people to answer a phone call, when we could let it go to voicemail. Usually, these aren't important enough to be rude to the people around us. If you aren't expecting a call and it isn't from someone who only calls in the case of an emergency, you can let them wait or keep it brief. Try it and see.
I am planning a more in depth post to detail some changes I plan to make in my own life, so don't consider this subject closed. Just ask yourself, what do you want to remember about today? Nothing because you just scrolled through your junk mail or something amazing because you spent time with the person next to you.
