Rettinger's Rants: Mobile phone Etiquette (American)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r00QxsitXY

Welcome back to Rettingers’ Rants. This is a show where I rant and rave on anything from the world of technology and sometimes outside of it. Up this week I want to talk about social etiquette and cell phones and something that happened to me that I’m guessing happened to you! …Let’s go ahead and get started.

So, last weekend I met up with a few friends there were six of us in total. Some of us, we haven’t seen each other in years. We all used to be really close. We met at a restaurant, we sat down we had a ton to catch up on, and immediately people started taking out their phones. Some put them on the table. Some were checking text messages, Facebook, whatever it might be…, checking in on Foursquare while we were sitting there, and I looked around and I noticed everybody else was doing the same thing. I mean we went to go see a movie and people were walking around and checking their cell phone. And it wasn’t that I’m especially boring, which I know sometimes I can be, but cell phones are taking over social interactions. And I am as guilty of it as the next guy. And it wasn’t really anything I was really aware of until I saw others doing it.

And it is such a crazy thing for me because I know in my industry talking about phones and technology, I am probably totally perpetuating this thing about always being focused on your phone and I realized anywhere I go, I’ve always got my hand in my pocket, I’m, I’m looking down, you know, and I’m checking in. I’m doing something on my phone and I realize that there’s less and less time for social interaction.

When I wake up in the morning, (the) first thing I do is check my Ipad. When I go to bed, at night, (the) last thing I do is check email. When I’m out and about I wanna check in on Foursquare. I’m checking in on Facebook, or wherever it might be, I always have my phone in my hand and I’m wondering at what point that happened. It’s gotten so bad for me personally with electronics, I sometimes feel like a phantom vibration in my pocket. It’s like my phone is ringing. I’m constantly going, you know, checking it. And I can’t be alone on that.

So what can we do to fix it? How can we step away from technology for a few minutes, or at least have some sort of social grace?

So I came up with an idea that I challenge you guys to try. Next time you’re out with a bunch of friends, everybody stack their cell phones. Stack ‘em up, face down. The first person to check their cell phone, picks up the tab wherever you guys are. That will make sure that people sit and enjoy each other’ company and technology takes a back seat. When somebody’s really got to make that phone call; when somebody’s really got to check Twitter, they can do it, but they’ve got to pick up the bill. If you’re out at a bar, you know, whoever picks up their phone next, picks up the next round of drinks. Take your own variation on this. We found that when we did it, we didn’t touch our cell phones for two or three hours. And it really was an enjoyable experience. We get to talk and get to catch up again. Hear what is going on in their lives. And you know some of us are married. Some of them have kids. Just to hear everything that is going on in our lives. And I missed that.

And I can remember a distinct moment going out with my wife, going to see a movie, and not checking my cell phone. Not worrying that it was going to ring, or vibrate or disturb. Just, it was a phone. It was in my pocket. If I had to make a phone call, I would make a phone call. If I didn’t have to make a phone call, I wouldn’t touch it.

And I can’t really remember exactly when that became more, the smart phone became so ensconced as part of my life. You know, if you can talk to somebody and they’re looking down at their cell phone while their talking to you or typing a text message, it’s rude and I didn’t realize that I did it as much as I did until I looked around and saw others doing it.

So it was sort of a moment of self-realization, light bulb over my head kind of thing, ah, where I realized I need to change something about how I interact.

So, I challenge you guys too: if you fall on the same thing as me; if you check you cell phone way more than you should; if you think about your cell phone; if you see and accident in front of you, the first thing you do is take a picture and put it on Facebook and not call 911, then you got a problem.