Unfortunately, not everyone in the crowd noticed or even seemed to care. All around me, conversations were carried on as if the band on stage was there to provide background noise for them. Text messages were fired off, and I'd bet money that many of them had nothing at all to do with the show. One guy standing near me even answered his cellphone and shouted over the music into it.
This is far from the first time I've noticed this. It's been going on for years now. Now that everyone has a cellphone, they spend more of their time focused on texting, surfing the web, & the occasional conversation over the phone than they focus on anything else. They go to any event, & every time the phone goes off they snatch it from their pockets, eager to find out who's contacting them. We've let cellphones take over our lives. They're the false idol you carry in your pocket, sacrificing your time and energy and attention while the rest of the world flows around you unnoticed. You think you're better connected to the world, but while you're intent on the distraction in your hand you're missing out on the world in front of you.
THIS HAS TO STOP.
Movie theatres (and no doubt theatres that put on plays and the like) combat the proliferation of cellphone usage by asking patrons to silence their cellphones. Some places will even enforce their rules against cellphone usage by removing violators, but for the most part they don't, and I'm sure many theatres realize their number one job isn't policing each auditorium. But maybe it should be.
Maybe every place that hosts any kind of event should embrace and enforce rules against the use of cellphones, especially during any kind of performance. Cellphone use during a performance disrespects not only the performers but everyone around you trying to enjoy the performance. So at the very least, you should be preventing yourself from using your cellphone. Stop texting, or surfing the web, or calling your friends & family when you're out & want to enjoy something. If the temptation is too great to resist when it's off or turned to silent & in your pocket, leave it in your car or give it to someone else to hold on to for a while.
Better yet, turn it off & cancel your service. Go back to only talking to your friends & family when you're at home or doing something with them. Get online from your computer instead. Because the effects of cellphone proliferation are spreading. It's killing your attention-span. You can't focus on anything unless it's 140 characters or less. If something takes longer than the length of the average commercial, you tune it out. I bet you've already stopped reading this a dozen times to look at text messages or tweets or another website, and you're barely processing what I've written.
That's not good. It's not OK. And you need to change your ways. So that we don't forget how to interact with each other face-to-face. So that every relationship we have is more than characters on a screen or a disembodied voice. So that when we go out somewhere & spend money to be entertained we can all enjoy the entertainment on hand and truly appreciate it.
Who knows, you might even make new friends based on a shared experience. And what might that lead to? A sense of community? A social network that doesn't need a high-speed internet connection and web servers to maintain it? Could we relearn that it's better to talk during intermissions instead of the performance? That just because people can get your attention wherever you are, that doesn't mean you should let them? Could it also decrease accidents and lead to overall improved wellness?
I think so.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have a cellphone too. And I'm not willing to give mine up completely. But I've been making a conscious effort to turn my phone off when I want to enjoy what's happening right in front of me. I do it not just for myself, but for everyone around me so that they too can enjoy what's happening in front of them. Because I figure if something annoys me then it most likely annoys others too, so I'm not going to keep contributing to the problem.
Join me.
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