Smart Phones, Daughters and Communication

I don’t own a Smart Phone. I own a dumb phone. It only makes phone calls, texts and has a small screen where you can barely see pictures. About once a week I think I’d like a phone that has storage capacity for more than one picture. I’d love to have Apps that are practical. I would like to Yelp restaurant information on the spot when I want it. Then I go to dinner with my daughter, who, by the way owns a Smart Phone.

My daughter’s pre-calc teacher was with eating dinner at the same fast-food place we ordered burgers at. He was there with his son. “Wow, that’s nice,” I thought. Another dad beside me actually goes out with their kid and has quality time. Curious I observed their interaction. The dad spent the entire meal looking at his phone (or I-thing). I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s a busy teacher. He’s probably working and returning parent comments. “No,” my heart said. His kid may have just eaten dinner alone.

I was encouraged that there were some teens having face to face interaction at the restaurant. There was a girl eating alone and interacting with her phone. So communication isn’t dead yet but it’s certainly taking on a flesh wound.