Does this sight ever make anyone else sad?

So it happens quite often when I am in public that I will see a parent pushing a stroller and talking on their cell phone. What bothers me is that even though the child is not facing the parent, it is still a great opportunity for bonding and helping the child discover his/her environment (and therefore learn). Some parents barely speak to their kids and language helps young children cognitively. The more, the better. I also am sad when I see couples together and one is staring into space as the other is yakking on a cell phone. How weird has it become where the person who gets top social priority is a disembodied voice? The emotional disconnect saddens me and I wonder if others notice this as well.

If I'm with anyone else, my cell phone (and iPod) definitely get put on the backburner. Hell, even at home hanging out with my girlfriend, I'll often ignore my MSN messages on my computer and things of the sort.

And I never want to get to the point where I am staring at a tiny screen every two minutes. It becomes compulsive for many.

It's quite liberating to switch it off and live for a while in the here.

does not mean that they do not have many other moments of bonding like you describe.

every moment counts. Also, my point is--what is so pressing that it trumps your child? My mom didn't yak on a cell phone, nor did my father and life went on.

an arrangement with her/him on what time to pick them up from their friend's house.

That's what could be so "pressing".

Really.

Really.

Imagine that! :rofl:

:shrug:

I am tired of people thinking there are special rules for parents when it comes to this stuff. Cell phones have only been in the masses since 1995, for goodness sake! It's not like a necessity, even if you ARE a parent.

the condascending posts.

Self-righteous ass.

An "asshat" who loved calling everyone with a dissentin opinion an "asshat".

Good call, chimprsmarter!

:toast: :hi:

out of the garage, same thing when she's driving back down the street to her house. I see people at restaurants on their phones while they are sitting with their dates, families etc. I have a cell phone but i don't use it much, i'm not a big phone person and California is hands free and i still don't have a hands free kit so no using the phone in the car for me either.

to make it SUV, we need a 'u' adjective...

Whether it be out in public or just around the house far too many communicate "thru the wires" instead of in person. There are times when one has no choice,when the other lives far away etc but it's this constant habit of texting instead of talking,becoming one with a cell phone instead of enjoying the food or the company. Teens ignore the one next to them as they communicate by thumb.Kids often act up just to be heard over mamas cell phone. The world is passing them by.
There was a time when family vacations meant a bit of bonding and seeing the sites. Now they panic if their cell phone won't be able to pick up their friends.No longer do people come home and say hello. Instead it's check the cell phone,emails etc. How ironic that with so many forms of electronic communication at hand people struggle with knowing how to look someone in the eye and form a conversation!

And there is this illusion of intimacy which these devices inspire. And it's really dysfunctional.

I even notice it in the Lounge. You will have people saying: "Now I am doing this or am here" and I almost get the feeling that they always have to be outside of themselves, like cell phone junkies. Like that old Zen koan about whether or not the tree exists if no one hears it. The chronic yakkers don't feel they exist unless they have witnesses.

That's exactly what I think too. Parents should spend what little time they have with their children socializing them and verbalizing with them. People work and commute such long hours, and kids spend so much time in daycare, that it worries me when I see parents ignoring their kids like this on weekends.

Back in B.C. (Before Cellphones) when I raised my 2 daughters, we would chat while shopping, talk about stuff in the stores, learn new words, count items, etc.

This cell phone nonsense gives kids the message that they're not important to Mommy or Daddy. I worry that we're going to have a generation of sociopaths.