Put Down The Phone

An adventure in putting down my phone and meeting my wife, children, dog, coworkers, clerks, waitresses, baristas, and all the others i've been ignoring over the past decade.

[putdownthephone-blog]

Idiots (day 4)

I am beginning to like driving around, turning up the music, and watching all the idiots on their phones.

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Keep it in your pants (day 3)

Had to drive around today.

First drive had the phone on the dash.

Next drive i realized that since i wasn't going to text, and my phone had bluetooth to the car's controls, i no longer needed my phone out. So, i thought, keep it in your pocket (which in my case was my pants).

Rest of the day was pretty smooth while driving, though i did find myself checking the phone immediately after parking. 

At the grocery store, however, I regressed. While walking around, i unconsciously grabbed my phone, and checked to see if messages had arrived. Then i checked the weather. Then i realized i was walking through the parking lot with my head in my phone. Bad. Need to stop doing that.

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Soccer (day 2)

Day 2 introduced a new phone-less event, my sons soccer match. This was surprisingly difficult. 40 minute halves and a break. And, my phone is in my pocket, so close, just waiting to be checked. But, in the end, will power prevailed and i didn't look once during the game. 

I checked after at the end of the game, and sure enough a few texts had arrived, mostly commenting on various elements of the party the night before. I did miss replying in the moment, but even a witty comment would have come and gone, and i'm glad i just kept focused on the game. 

It didn't matter that we got crushed, i felt good that i saw every dribble, pass, header, and fowl that my son committed.

[putdownthephone-blog]

Day 1

Not a bad first day.

While driving i had the urge. A strong urge to check email. Nothing particular on my mind, but habits took over, and while at a stoplight, i instinctively reached for the phone. Moments before contact, i pulled my hand back, and at the same time, saw a dude in a large, shiny pickup engrossed in some sort of digital excursion in the car next to me. I turned up the volume of the radio, and waited for the light to change. 

The skies did not part. The thunder did not roar. The world did not stop.

Later that night i had a party in the city with a couple hundred people honoring a social cause. Most people were engaged and focused in the moment, with an occasional outlier tapping vigorously at her phone.

Faux Pau #1. When someone pulled out his phone and duct away, i made a little joke. Bad. It turns out the he was helping someone with directions to get to the event (there was horrible road construction blocking many of the main street entrances). Bad. I realized immediately that my adventure was about me, not others. 

At one point in the evening during the hosts speech, i glanced to my right and a guy in plane site of the speaker had tuned out of the moment, and into his phone. It was a shame, since i had met that same person a half hour earlier - he seemed nice enough. He's on my bad list now...

Finally, on the way home, a text came through to my phone while i was driving. I reached into my pocket, handed my phone to my wife, and said 'can you check to see if the kids are trying to reach us?'

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Day 0

It started today with this video. 22m views so i am not the only one who felt the irony (watching a video of people ignoring one another while sitting at a cafe ignoring people).

The girl who bowled a strike, turned to get recognition, only to find no-one giving her a high-five, and worse, no-one to see her do it. In her world, it never happened. 

An hour later, i was driving home in rush hour traffic. The woman behind me texting or reading or whatever. Speeding up, slowing down. Speeding up, Slowing down. We've all seen it, and we've all done it. But this time i was sure she was going to hit me. I prepared. I changed lanes. I decided i was going to stop texting while driving.

And then it hit me to make a bigger challenge. For the next 30 days, I will stop texting (or checking mail or twitter or anything else) at all of the following situations:

Driving

Eating with others (at home or away) - this means phone is either not brought with me, or buried deep in a pocket never to be seen by those i am with

Interacting with anyone (for example if i am checking out at the grocery store, i can't have my phone out)

While walking our dog

When socializing with others

I don't think i can do it, but i'll try. Starting Tomorrow.