Attached By the Ear

SO this is it: the 7th post. Its been a hell of a longtime coming but I'm finally going to finish it today. This is my people watching quote, only it went off on a tangent while I was actually suppossed to be observing people's habits, behaviors, ways their cultures are exhibited through their actions, etc. I started off sitting on a wooden bench on the first floor of Ala Moana, pretending to be checking out the crowd casually, but I was actually starring at particular people as they walked by. It was a busy Saturday, at about midday, so the mall was pretty crowded and definitely full of shoppers from other countries, mainland USA, and local people. One habit that transcended their countries of origin were their attraction to their cell phones. I'd say that 50% of the people that walked past me had a cellphone in their hands, either texting, calling, etc., or idly by their side, waiting for a call or text. It amazed me to see this because I would probably be on of that 1:2 ratio at any given time during the day. I don't think I'm addicted to my cellphone as much as I am dependant on it to provide me with amusement. It is a horrible habit, I know, to always be checking your texts, missed calls, and facebook mobile but I guess I'm a slave to my cellphone--and so are many other people.

What makes this story ironic is what happened a few days earlier. I was at school with one of my friends-who-is-a-girl and she kept interupting our conversation to check her phone or chat with someone who had called her. It was super irritating and I let her know. She told me she just likes to talk to people, but there I was right in front of her, talking to her! "So maybe you just like to talk to people on the phone, then. Or maybe you want to talk to PEOPLE not a PERSON at a time!" I said to her. She was taken aback, but I apologized and we kept talking. That incident rings in my mind right now, not because I do the same to other people (do it?), but because her habit is not as uncommon as I perceived before my people watching incident. My father always makes comments about cellphones and how my generation is constantly on them--sometimes he even goes so far as to call them evil! Anyway, what I feel like telling him now is that EVERYONE uses their cellphones religiously, not just teenagers. Heck, he's always on HIS cellphone so perhaps I should use that as an argument to defend us. (By "us" I mean, all the slaves of their cellphones like me).

Cellphones are unavoidable in this day and age when communication is vital to success in the business world. Its just that simple: if you know how to use modern technology then, chances are, you are going to have an advantage getting a job, keeping a job, or getting promoted over someone who refuses to move on from the brick-sized cellphones or beepers, for that matter, that used to dominate 10 years ago. So am I saying that it is a good thing for teenagers to be using their cellphones as relgiously as we are? NO, of course not. Cellphones emit radiation that can damage your tissues in the long run, and the monthly bills can certainly kill you, too! But knowing how to use them for good, not evil, will help in the future.

What was interesting about the half an hour I sat at Ala Moana was the prevalence of cellphones in a mall as massive and diverse as "Hawaii's center". I can go a whole day walking thorugh Ala Moana with a credit card and my ipod and not touch my cellphone once. Maybe I'm just uncommonly curious what each vendor has to sell, but thats just what Ala Moana is suppossed to present you with: choices. A mall is not a business man's office so the cellphone does not have to have such a pronounced presence as it does. Think about what downtown Honolulu must look like with every person on their cellphones! So it was strange to see people walk past me with their cellies in hand while they browsed store windows. Doesn't the presence of such a formidable piece of technology detract from the attractiveness of a display in a distracted shopper's eyes?

So, how to break the habit? I learned a lot about myself from the 30 minutes I sat there looking like a people-watcher (because thats what I was doing). Cellphones, I have determined, are an unavoidable and potentially helpful staple of our culture, but there are things I can do to avoid the perenial checking of "updates". One, I can focus on who I'm with or what I'm suppossed to be doing. Letting my mind waver allows the cellphone to summon me with its siren call. Two, I can try leaving it in my car, or in my backpack when I'm in class, or in a situation where I don't need one. Third, I can make a conscious effort to use it only as a learning tool, not a social facebook tool. People don't have to be attached by the ear to their cellphones, and I want to make sure my children know that in the future so that they won't end up like me. THE END