I'll be with you in a minute, I'm sending a text.

Hi,

Before I delve into an explanation of the comic strip above, make sure you click on the actual picture. That will bring the comic into a new window as a larger picture so that you can actually read it.

I don't know what it is with me and comic strips lately but they have been fueling quite a few of my posts. I read this one yesterday and smirked immediately because of how apt it is...people are on their cell phones all the stinkin' time. Before you accuse me of being a pot, yes, I am also on my cell phone quite a bit and will gladly take any well deserved criticism. I don't mind people using their phones to make phone calls, because hey, that is what they are for. It does make me sad however when I see people sitting in a restaurant across from each other and neither of them are saying a word because they are too engrossed in whatever they are looking at on their phone. Normally, you see the kids on the phone while the parents are trying to talk but a few weeks back I actually saw a girl sitting there staring at her mom for a good 15 min while her mom disregarded her and played with her phone. I watched this whole thing in awe as she, the mom, casually flicked her finger around the phone (obviously not sending an important work email,) while her daughter sat there sadly yearning for conversation. Well maybe not sadly yearning for conversation, but she was definitely sitting there! Bottom line, I kind of wanted to say something but it wasn't my place and I'm not an ass.

Let's move on to my own experiences. Usually at night after Noah goes to bed, Steph and I get a few hours to ourselves to just sit there and hang out. We have TV shows that we like to watch but recently, neither of us can even watch a half hour TV show without grabbing our phone to screw around on Facebook or see what's going on with Twitter. We get a few precious hours to ourselves at night and apparently we suffer from ADD so bad that we can't even relax and watch a show together. We knew we could do better than that, so we made a rule. Answering phones is fine (especially since I take work calls at all hours) and even responding to a few texts is okay, but we are no longer allowed to surf the internet or browse facebook/twitter while we have time together. Sounds pretty old and crotchety right? Well, the last thing that I want is Noah growing up seeing two parents not communicate with eachother because they are too busy on their smart phones. I don't want to be that parent in the restaurant on my smart phone while Noah sits there doing nothing, I want to be the dad who gives him a discreet high five for the silent fart he let out that disturbed all of the other patrons, just kidding...sort of.

*For the record, when Noah is awake, we aren't on our phones. I am sometimes, but not Steph, she is way better at sitting down indian style and playing with him and his toys. I can't sit indian style, it hurts.*

I could probably expand on this topic and point out the many different instances in when cell phone use annoys me but I have other things to do. The funny thing is that, as I complain about this stuff, I check tech websites daily to see if there are any new phones coming out because I am officially eligible for a new one. I feel like this whole blog is laced with hypocrisy but hey, what can I do? It's a blog: I have thoughts and I throw them onto the computer in a big jumbled mass and hope that my ramblings make sense.

Man, how aweomse does that iPhone 4S sound?? Right!??

Conor