Hello 965

This is becoming more and more noticeably in the recent years. With the rise of smart phones and more social apps and sites, I have started to see people getting engaged more on their phones than they do with each other personally. I am sure that most ,if not all, of you have noticed this trend as well. You often would go to a cafe or a restaurant and see people’s heads buried in Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and paying less and less attention to their surroundings. Make no mistake, I do see myself in this category of behavior more often than I like.

Not too long ago, I was with a friend having coffee at a cafe. So we are catching up and having a good time talking about what we have been doing since the last time we have met. And then there were these two guys setting next to us. Both wearing a formal Dishdasha/Ghutra and looking very sharp. They too were having coffee and….no, they were not talking. So why am I paying attention to some random guys minding their own business? I asked myself. But I really couldn’t help notice that in the last hour I have not heard a single word coming from their direction. Then I noticed that both of them, heads down, looking at their phones and scrolling up and down. My friend was also disturbed a little bit, to the point were he suggested that we should make a bet on who would talk first. That seemed a bit silly and mean to me, but we ended up making the bet. In the last minute one of them spoke. My friend looked at me and smiled “you win!” But that disturbed me even more, the fact that those two gentlemen were there for about an hour and the only word I heard from them was “Check please!”

Now don’t get me wrong. Perhaps there was something going on between those two men, perhaps not. The point should be clear to you by now. To some people, technology is making them(us) less social. And I have noticed this more and more with youngsters, but also matured people as well. Social networks are great on building the network of reconnecting old friends and people you no longer in touch with close to you. And there is no denying the fact that I am close with the network I have built on Twitter. In fact I have met many wonderful people that I probably would never come across if it wasn’t for social networking sites. However, I do see with some people that the communication  aspect of what we need in real life is dwindling. All of those smart phones and gadgets are making some of us more and more isolated. And this is an old social issue that was raised by people in the past. The thing is, it’s not getting better and it’s not getting enough awareness here in Kuwait.

This got me an idea, an outrageous idea it may be. Let’s say if you are not terribly expecting a phone call or a message, then you would put your phone in the “phones basket.”  Oh what is this phone basket? Just a basket that will be placed in cafes, restaurants or dowaniyas and force you to pay your full attention to the people you are with. A friend of mine told me recently of her “unspoken rule.” Basically she never touches her phone(or try not to) when she’s with someone. I wouldn’t be worried about adults with this problem. But I am seriously concern about the kids with their iPads and iPhones at a young age. Getting used to these gadgets and not paying enough attention to their surroundings. I hope parents would get the needed awareness with this type of issue. As they have never faced it themselves in the past.

What do you guys think?