It's an addiction & I have proof. Go to a movie theater & watch how many phones turn on as soon as the credits roll. All those little blue lights are folks checking for the precious messages they missed during the 90 minutes their phones were off. People have become so compulsive to answer their phones as soon as it rings that they tend to immediately disregard whatever prior situation they were in just to answer it. Many times a real-world conversation with me has been abruptly ended because a call came in that just had to be answered. Hell, one time I was having a great conversation with someone, her phone rang, she just picked it up & left the room. Not a second look to me, no word of excuse. Like I wasn't even there. And after it was over, like our conversation never happened.
This extends beyond phone calls too. Some folks may not notice but it's rather difficult to talk to someone while they are thumbing away a text-message, focused on the miniature screen & seemingly oblivious to anything else. Why bother continuing? They're already entertained so I might as well leave.
But maybe it goes further. Maybe it's personal. Perhaps it's just me that is inferior. I've certainly been on the low end when I'm calling cell phones. I've discovered the recipients were on the other line while I was leaving a voice message. I've been cut off, interrupted or drowned out by their real-world conversation. Maybe it's just me that's not worth talking to or visiting. I've certainly become inconvenient now that so many others are moving to the city. I'm not going to bother pointing fingers or writing up a list of exclusions to this rant. People can figure it out for themselves. I'm going to introvert for a while.
Stephen King retired a while ago, but he came out of it just so he could write a book about how much he hates cell phones. I'm beginning to understand.
- E V I L O U T -
P.S. In completely different news, I was playing Blasto for the PS1 earlier & started this rant when the loading screen kept on for a few minutes. Forty minutes later the next level finally loaded. WTF?