Intimacy replaced by hand-held devices:

Have you ever gone to a restaurant with a family member, friend, or even a significant other hoping to enjoy a nice meal and catch up on lost time only to be annoyed by the other person’s constant texting or internet surfing on their phone?  Since the conversation is limited because of this annoying behavior you decide to look around the restaurant and realize that out of the ten tables around you there is at least one person at each table either texting or surfing the internet.  I do not know about you but nothing irritates me more than trying to have a conversation with a person that finds texting or internet surfing more important than what you are trying to talk about.

     The cell phones that are being manufactured have the same capabilities as a home computer.  In many cases they are better than an average home computer.  These hand-held devices are known in the United States as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or smart phones.  Having these devices can be fun if you are considerate when using them, convenient if you are in a business profession, and in my opinion problematic because they seem to be replacing the intimacy in relationships.  I say this because I believe intimate conversations should be discussed either over the phone or in person; instead many people are texting intimate conversations.  For example, I once received a text from my son and daughter who reside in North Carolina, on Christmas day that said, “Merry Christmas.”  I would have loved for them to pick up the phone and call me to tell me Merry Christmas instead of texting it to me.  You’re probably wondering as a father why didn’t I pick up the phone and call them; I called and unfortunately they did not answer their cell phones.  Another example of intimate conversations that I feel should not be discussed via text messaging is when my son had gotten in trouble in school.  Instead of calling me to discuss his behavior his mother decided to text.  I asked her to call me so that we could talk about his behavior and she didn’t; for some strange reason she wanted to have a full blown conversation via text messaging.

     These are only a couple of examples of why I feel that intimacy has been replaced by hand-held devices.  If someone wanted to tell you that they love you; would you rather they text it to you or would you rather hear it?  That may sound like a silly question but how many times have you received a text message and thought, why didn’t he/she just pick up the phone and call?  I am sure there has been at least one time in your life that this has happened to you.  Isn’t it irritating?  Does it make you want to scream?  I do not know about you but it frustrates me!!!