Ok, so the new smartphones are really great. They keep us connected, up-to-date, in touch with family and friends, and they help us navigate, buy, take photos....on and on. But you know things are going too far when:
1) Business people are remarking how job candidates keep using their phone (barely ever looking up) during a JOB INTERVIEW!
2) People are getting into car accidents because they are texting while driving. It is really common -- travel on any road in Toms River and you'll see cars barely stopping in time at traffic lights or drifting out of their lanes because the driver is looking down at their phone.
3) I've been bumped into numerous times on sidewalks and in stores because people are walking forward without watching where they are going...their eyes are on the latest Facebook update...
4) In experiments conducted across the country, most people could not successfully stay off their phone for a 24-hour period without getting nervous, freaking out, or demanding their phone back almost right away.
5) People are showing signs that they are un-interested, and are UNABLE, to carry on a person-to-person conversation. Ironically, kids growing up in a world where social sharing means EVERYTHING can only share when electronically connected. Actually talking to someone is "so last century."
All of this is something to think about (I'm assuming we all know still know how to think..LOL).
Maybe we should all put the phone down once in a while (especially when driving, please!). The latest text or update will still be there for us a half-hour from now. There used to be an old phrase that said "take time to smell the roses." It meant don't get so caught up in something (in this case, the phone) that you miss the world around you. The sun, trees, sky, and other people around you can be pretty interesting sometimes, too.
