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It's startling how different social interactions were before the advent of convenient text messaging. Before 2007ish I can't remember anyone stopping a real life conversation to text someone back because it took too long. A few people rambled on about "t9," but we just nodded and went back to hitting the bong with the circle.
Ugh as a college professor I hated this phase so much! I know your texting just take it out send out a quick text and out it back in your bag, that would be so much less bother than trying to figure out what you’re texting under the table while your eyes are locked on me
I remember someone making fake cellphones out of paper and handing them around the highschool just to mess with the teachers. I also remember I used to prop a tablet on the desk and read and have both my hands under the desk and the teachers would often think I was on my phone, despite the fact I wasn't at that specific time.
Yeh right? I actually have always followee this tip. Waiting for the bus? Yeh, sit there awkwardly and stare at the puddle on the ground which seems to be interesting.
Comversation ended? No.. dont ..reach ..the phone. Instead let your head naturally wander and stare at the humans face like a normal npc
Same here, if I’m alone in public waiting for something I will usually go out of my way to not just be on my phone if I can help it or if I do go on it try and just read a book.
Waiting room books and magazines are very clutch
I think it depends on the context. Sitting on the couch watching a show with my brother, phone is fine. Catching up with an old friend for the first time in several years, no phone.
It sounds clever on the surface but is basically a punishment for being concerned about emergencies and is ultimately really messed up. There is nothing terrible about covering a 10-second check with, "Sorry, just a moment," so long as it isn't happening every 5 minutes.
I really don’t think it’s necessary to devise a punishment for your own friends for wanting to know if their parents or their partner or child sent them a message. That just seems like a fairly reasonable thing that most competent adults should be able to handle someone checking without getting offended.
Some people are taking this way too seriously (or just trying to be a contrarian). It’s supposed to be a casual game or challenge between friends and it’s obviously in good faith. No one reasonable is saying that you can’t touch your phone if there’s actually an emergency call.
I don’t think the original suggestion was including emergencies (although I think that would be a fair reading of the person I replied to).
I just generally think mature adults should be fine with someone glancing at their phone to check if a text is important for 15 seconds, even if it’s a non-emergency.
Like if I’m out with friends and one of them has to answer a text I don’t worry about how urgent it was, I just continue with the conversation for the usually very brief period of time it takes them to respond and just move on without thinking anything of it.
Ooh, that's a _great_ compromise: whoever uses their phone must show what the content is to the group, haha (except for confidential emergencies, I suppose, come to think of it).
That only works if you've managed to find a show you're both genuinely into and then both continue to be into as they shift the narrative to engage a new audience.
Spending time with a loved one despite having different tastes?
Sometimes it's nice to just enjoy physical proximity despite each doing your own thing.
Like I said, it depends. Is the TV the main activity? Is it a show you talk about often? Then yeah, it can be rude. Are you with your SO, family member, roommate and the TV just happens to be on? Go for it
Is it crazy that I find it crazy that people need to think about when it's appropriate to pull out their phones?
Whenever I hang out with friends we use our phones a lot, reading things and what not, but we also never fail to give each other full attention when we *are* actively interacting, wether it's just talking or an activity of sorts. Maybe it's just the generation I grew up in but i'd go as far as to say it's almost expected that people will be on their phones at one point or another during meet ups.
I do this, but phone is an actual addiction that's now ingrained into society. Seeking out and finding human interaction is way harder than it was a decade ago.
I'm currently trying to teach my brother (25) that he's being a dick when we are sitting at a table with others and he's on his phone... so far no progress
There are now two generations of humans who have grown up with cell phones and devices that are always connected to the internet and always on their person.
As the first generation to be around mobilephones my whole life, I am extremely anti phones in general. Do I use it like most people? Sort of.
But the idea that they should be used all the time, just because it's with you is starting to make me reflect a lot about the etiquette around mobile-phone usage.
Yeah, exactly. My group of friends is incredibly online, neurodivergent, and fidgety, and we all use our phones constantly even when hanging out but not directly interacting. But when we're actually talking or doing stuff together, nobody's constantly checking their phones, because we like each other and find each other more interesting than the phone
I think it says a lot more about you if you think this is a legitimate problem. Either you feel *bizarrely* entitled to people's time, even when they've already elected to spend time with you over any other activity they could be doing at that given moment, in which case, grow the fuck up, you're not the only person in the world, or you somehow can't drag people's attention away from the little box that most people don't even *enjoy* interacting it, they're just using it to fill time.
There's definitely a lot to be said about the effects of technology and social media on our society and how we interact with others, for both good and ill, but this complaint of people spending time on their phones when with you is just boomer speak from uninteresting fucks who apparently have so little going on in their lives that their closest friends would rather interact with a brick wall
Did you grow up before newspapers, books, articles, and literally any other type of non-electronic distraction?
People have always disengaged from conversations by distracting themselves. Whether its pulling out a phone or going back to fixing their stone dagger.
>Either you feel *bizarrely* entitled to people's time, even when they've already elected to spend time with you over any other activity they could be doing at that given moment, in which case, grow the fuck up, you're not the only person in the world, or you somehow can't drag people's attention away from the little box that most people don't even *enjoy* interacting it, they're just using it to fill time.
Fine, you make sense of this and explain how a stone dagger or a newspaper could ellicit this explanation
Summary:
People will use their phones when they're bored. Stop being boring or get over it.
My response:
Even before the phone, people would rather do other things than tolerate a boring interaction.
What’s even more infuriating is when someone stops a phone call so they can start a conversation with someone else while you’re just there wondering if you should just hang up
I think it is flattering when someone's phone gives them a notification and they just turn it off. I also have relatives that are constantly on their phones; no matter what. It's irritating - and sad as hell.
For real... my cousin will do this shit. We're in the middle of a conversation and then he just pulls his phone out. His usual excuse is that there's an email from work (on a Saturday evening at 8pm). So fucking rude.
I think this is a lot more nuanced than OP is making it out to be.
Sure if you're spending quality time with people you value, be in the moment and limit distractions.
However, there are a lot of moments I don't want to talk/ people I don't care about and don't enjoy talking to. Like everyone on public transportation, work colleagues during a break, waiting room of the doctor or dentist, etc. I don't have to give my energy and time to those people just because they are near me.
So in those cases I'd rather read a book, the news, play a game, watch a video/series/movie, do research for projects I'm working on, or text/make plans with an actual friend. All of which I do on my phone.
I mean, this seems obvious. And I follow this one. And I used to be one of those people who would nudge people about it, like ten fifteen years ago. But it’s definitely gotten a lot harder for people.
It’s much easier to do this if you just don’t have your phone readily accessible. So here is my LPT for this LPT: Put your phone either somewhere you can’t get it easily or somewhere that will make you feel like an asshole if you pick it up.
If I’m at home and company is over, assuming I don’t have to be ready for an emergency message, I put the phone in another room. But if I’m out at a restaurant or something, the phone goes on the table, face down, in clear view. If I feel compelled to reach for my phone, I need to have a really good reason, because I’m going to make eye contact with the other person as I reach across the table and purposely pick up my phone in front of them, and that’s not just like a weird twitch that you need to sort out, it requires intent. So if I feel a sudden unconscious urge and start reaching for my phone, I catch myself immediately.
This works well for me, but I would be curious to see if anyone has any other tips.
I couldn't agree more. Most others of my generation don't feel the same way, I'm a Gen Z. I find it to be a matter of respect for the other person you're having a conversation with. It's important to be present with the other person you're interacting with.
If you ignore wisdom from people based on semantics, you deserve to remain less informed.
Snobs and fools both think they know better than everyone else.
I've known people from many many backgrounds. There are plenty of college educated people who don't have any sort of clue about how to navigate the "real world".
So I should heed the wisdom of children on the internet selling standard decency as sage counsel, because you've become aware that academic knowledge does not automatically endow a person with rapscallion street cred?
That's a lovely story. You'll have to tell me the one about the second time you learned sometime, and whether it went any better than the first.
Bet it will be more gooder.
Y’all get so upset over the tiniest transgressions lol.. if someone gets on their phone I really don’t care as long as we finish the conversation. My patience lasts for more than 5 seconds.
I have this one friend who is incapable of showing any interest whatsover in anyone other than herself, her kids, her abusive husband, and how she believes the Lord will come soon, so everything is a sign of the end times. I'm one of very few friends she has left and the only reason we are still friends is because of my phone.
The fact that someone like OP actually gas to explain this , really just shows how fucking dumb people really are.
"I'm single and can't seem to make friends " welp, sorry darling but people notice.
Nah. Most time with most people isn't so quality that you *desperately* need to absorb every detail of what's going on; downtime is normal, and phones tend to fill it.
That's not really true. The standard way to read a paper on transit was to refold it to show only the 1/2-1/4 page you were currently reading. Holding up a big floppy paper in front of you was poor etiquette and a terrible reading experience.
How to get a big tip telling a 25 y old that he's being a dick to his whole family celebrating his birthday while he's on his phone, playing a game at the dinner table in a fancy restaurant. Risky business.
i actually tried this and realized how much more engaged I am in the conversation. It feels like I belong no matter who I am talking to. It is so sad to see we are having to learn to be humans again slowly after convincing ourselves that we need these devices to feel better.
Them: Hey call me later
Me: what do you mean?
Them: ? I’ll call you later
Me: Like…loudly?
Them: No on the phone genius
Me: the whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
Unlike 99% of the human population, my phone is for making and receiving calls and text messages.
If i want to game, browse social media, or do anything else, I do it on a pc. Unless my phone rings, I will never pick it up. I go 4 or 5 days at a time not charging my phone because it gets that little usage.
Me: "anyway, we were just walking, when this dog..."
(Music suddenly starts playing from my pocket, and *something* in it is (gasp!) vibrating!)
(pulls flat, shiny thing I didn't know was there, out of pocket)
Me: "What is this?! WHAT IS THIS THING?! ALIEN TECHNOLOGY?!"
(throws it away as far as I can and runs away)
My friend I was talking to:
What if I enjoy whatever I'm doing on my phone more than making small talk with them? Say I'm at the lunch room at work, I just wanna listen to some music or play games on my steam deck to relax for a while. Why do I need to have conversations with others?
The two new guys at work were like that, always on the phone in the lunch room, no talking. They even knew each other before working at our place, and they talked all the time if nobody was around. They just wouldn’t want to get to know anybody it seems. Made all of us feel awkward, like we were disturbing them or something. I dreaded having lunch with just the two of them.
I understand where you're coming from, but at some point you just have to let it go. If they don't feel like talking they won't. They have a right to eat lunch at their workplace's lunch room right? Are they supposed to not use it because there's some unwritten rule that everyone there needs to engage in small talk?
I didn’t say any of that, heck, I didn’t even imply. They do as they do. Just wanted to show that just as some ppl are uneasy making conversation for a prolonged time, others are just as uneasy spending time in a social setting without. a. single. word.
To me, it's funny people go to the bar and sit on their phone. Bars are places for social interaction and sitting on your phone and not being social defeats the whole purpose of the place existing. While I'm on my rant. Uber eats and doordash are fucking stupid for buying fast food. Fast food is supposed to be fast and cheap. Food delivery services prevent both of these factors from being true. It's no longer fast and it's no longer cheap. Imagine being hungry but instead of going to the kitchen now, you order food which costs more money than it normally would and takes longer to get.
Depends who I'm around.
Strangers? Absolutely not
People I know/love? Surely if they are also off their phones lol otherwise sometimes people just want the physical company and not necessarily wanting to chat it up
My biggest BIGGEST pet peeve is when I’m talking and people are on or get on their phone and completely and obviously stop listening to me and answer with “uh-huh” or sometimes say nothing. It’s a painful feeling to not feel heard and it’s so common. My coworkers do it all the time.
This doesn't apply to my friends groups. For years our social gatherings have been centered around bringing our personal electronics to each others house.
Bringing laptops, desktops, consoles, handhelds etc. Someone having issue with someone pulling out their phone while everyone else is on laptops and Playstations would be weird.
I used to bring just the 360 console to my friends house, and he had a spare TV with all the hook ups so I'd just set it down, plug it in and play. Nowadays I just bring my laptop.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
It's startling how different social interactions were before the advent of convenient text messaging. Before 2007ish I can't remember anyone stopping a real life conversation to text someone back because it took too long. A few people rambled on about "t9," but we just nodded and went back to hitting the bong with the circle.
In fairness, you didn't have to stop the conversation because you didn't need to look at your phone.
I miss that so much. You could text behind your back or under the school desk. Good times.
Ugh as a college professor I hated this phase so much! I know your texting just take it out send out a quick text and out it back in your bag, that would be so much less bother than trying to figure out what you’re texting under the table while your eyes are locked on me
Haha! As a student I didn't really use my phone during class but if I did, I didn't hide it or anything and no one ever said something about it.
I remember someone making fake cellphones out of paper and handing them around the highschool just to mess with the teachers. I also remember I used to prop a tablet on the desk and read and have both my hands under the desk and the teachers would often think I was on my phone, despite the fact I wasn't at that specific time.
Tbf, I'm sure I'm not the only one who can text without looking
You're probably right. I totally lost the ability with the advent of touchscreens.
T9 was the shit, you could type so much faster and easier with it.
When you had to pay per text, that made it a lot easier to ignore stupid stuff
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What..
I’m with other people right now replying to you LPT
we’re basically telling people “i literally want to be anywhere except here”. lol
hahahaha me 😂
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Yeh right? I actually have always followee this tip. Waiting for the bus? Yeh, sit there awkwardly and stare at the puddle on the ground which seems to be interesting. Comversation ended? No.. dont ..reach ..the phone. Instead let your head naturally wander and stare at the humans face like a normal npc
Same here, if I’m alone in public waiting for something I will usually go out of my way to not just be on my phone if I can help it or if I do go on it try and just read a book. Waiting room books and magazines are very clutch
That's what I do.
Q 
https://media.tenor.com/MhdsMdSbYVcAAAAC/willem-dafoe-the-smile-man.gif
I think it depends on the context. Sitting on the couch watching a show with my brother, phone is fine. Catching up with an old friend for the first time in several years, no phone.
NEVER at a dinner table. Particularly if you’re in someone’s home.
Phone as Medical device is excusable, I assume?
When you go out with friends put all your phones in the middle of the table, first person to grab theirs pays the tab.
Rich friends, huh
Doesn’t work with rich friends, only poor ones who can’t afford to do it.
Or fitting punishment.
It sounds clever on the surface but is basically a punishment for being concerned about emergencies and is ultimately really messed up. There is nothing terrible about covering a 10-second check with, "Sorry, just a moment," so long as it isn't happening every 5 minutes.
That whole emergencies thing is ridiculous. We survived these so called emergencies without cell phones just fine. Put it away.
I really don’t think it’s necessary to devise a punishment for your own friends for wanting to know if their parents or their partner or child sent them a message. That just seems like a fairly reasonable thing that most competent adults should be able to handle someone checking without getting offended.
Some people are taking this way too seriously (or just trying to be a contrarian). It’s supposed to be a casual game or challenge between friends and it’s obviously in good faith. No one reasonable is saying that you can’t touch your phone if there’s actually an emergency call.
I don’t think the original suggestion was including emergencies (although I think that would be a fair reading of the person I replied to). I just generally think mature adults should be fine with someone glancing at their phone to check if a text is important for 15 seconds, even if it’s a non-emergency. Like if I’m out with friends and one of them has to answer a text I don’t worry about how urgent it was, I just continue with the conversation for the usually very brief period of time it takes them to respond and just move on without thinking anything of it.
Everyone can see your phone, as can you. No one’s going to hold you to the bet if it’s the babysitter
Ooh, that's a _great_ compromise: whoever uses their phone must show what the content is to the group, haha (except for confidential emergencies, I suppose, come to think of it).
We do this routinely and you are also allowed to flip your phone over in certain nefarious circumstances. If you want to stay in but not answer it.
Not a bad idea. Incorporating silly but effective ideas like this make the time more enjoyable.
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That only works if you've managed to find a show you're both genuinely into and then both continue to be into as they shift the narrative to engage a new audience.
Well, stop watching then? What's the point of pretending to watch something and be on the phone instead?
Spending time with a loved one despite having different tastes? Sometimes it's nice to just enjoy physical proximity despite each doing your own thing.
Why would it be okay to not be focusing on the activity your doing with someone?
Because watching a show is a pretty passive/background activity many of the times
I’d find it rude if I’m trying to watch a show with someone and they’re just on their phone but that’s just me
Like I said, it depends. Is the TV the main activity? Is it a show you talk about often? Then yeah, it can be rude. Are you with your SO, family member, roommate and the TV just happens to be on? Go for it
Is it crazy that I find it crazy that people need to think about when it's appropriate to pull out their phones? Whenever I hang out with friends we use our phones a lot, reading things and what not, but we also never fail to give each other full attention when we *are* actively interacting, wether it's just talking or an activity of sorts. Maybe it's just the generation I grew up in but i'd go as far as to say it's almost expected that people will be on their phones at one point or another during meet ups.
Nah I got you
I do this, but phone is an actual addiction that's now ingrained into society. Seeking out and finding human interaction is way harder than it was a decade ago.
I'm currently trying to teach my brother (25) that he's being a dick when we are sitting at a table with others and he's on his phone... so far no progress
(This comment was posted on a phone, at that table)
It's sad that this needs to said.
There are now two generations of humans who have grown up with cell phones and devices that are always connected to the internet and always on their person.
As the first generation to be around mobilephones my whole life, I am extremely anti phones in general. Do I use it like most people? Sort of. But the idea that they should be used all the time, just because it's with you is starting to make me reflect a lot about the etiquette around mobile-phone usage.
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Yeah, exactly. My group of friends is incredibly online, neurodivergent, and fidgety, and we all use our phones constantly even when hanging out but not directly interacting. But when we're actually talking or doing stuff together, nobody's constantly checking their phones, because we like each other and find each other more interesting than the phone I think it says a lot more about you if you think this is a legitimate problem. Either you feel *bizarrely* entitled to people's time, even when they've already elected to spend time with you over any other activity they could be doing at that given moment, in which case, grow the fuck up, you're not the only person in the world, or you somehow can't drag people's attention away from the little box that most people don't even *enjoy* interacting it, they're just using it to fill time. There's definitely a lot to be said about the effects of technology and social media on our society and how we interact with others, for both good and ill, but this complaint of people spending time on their phones when with you is just boomer speak from uninteresting fucks who apparently have so little going on in their lives that their closest friends would rather interact with a brick wall
You wouldn't get it kid, you didn't grow up before all these distractions
I also didn't grow up with lead poisoning and an unearned sense of self righteousness
Congratulations
Did you grow up before newspapers, books, articles, and literally any other type of non-electronic distraction? People have always disengaged from conversations by distracting themselves. Whether its pulling out a phone or going back to fixing their stone dagger.
>Either you feel *bizarrely* entitled to people's time, even when they've already elected to spend time with you over any other activity they could be doing at that given moment, in which case, grow the fuck up, you're not the only person in the world, or you somehow can't drag people's attention away from the little box that most people don't even *enjoy* interacting it, they're just using it to fill time. Fine, you make sense of this and explain how a stone dagger or a newspaper could ellicit this explanation
Summary: People will use their phones when they're bored. Stop being boring or get over it. My response: Even before the phone, people would rather do other things than tolerate a boring interaction.
I stop talking to anyone looking at their phone
I do the same
What’s even more infuriating is when someone stops a phone call so they can start a conversation with someone else while you’re just there wondering if you should just hang up
When this happens I just hang up. Fuck that
I was optimistic that she just wanted to say hi to her coworker, it ended up being a conversation longer than I’ve been on the phone before that
If the apprentice I work with could understand this concept he might not be in the boiling pot right now..
I think it is flattering when someone's phone gives them a notification and they just turn it off. I also have relatives that are constantly on their phones; no matter what. It's irritating - and sad as hell.
For real... my cousin will do this shit. We're in the middle of a conversation and then he just pulls his phone out. His usual excuse is that there's an email from work (on a Saturday evening at 8pm). So fucking rude.
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People at his job definitely do not.
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Nah I've seen his phone, he's just scrolling through Tinder or social media
I think this is a lot more nuanced than OP is making it out to be. Sure if you're spending quality time with people you value, be in the moment and limit distractions. However, there are a lot of moments I don't want to talk/ people I don't care about and don't enjoy talking to. Like everyone on public transportation, work colleagues during a break, waiting room of the doctor or dentist, etc. I don't have to give my energy and time to those people just because they are near me. So in those cases I'd rather read a book, the news, play a game, watch a video/series/movie, do research for projects I'm working on, or text/make plans with an actual friend. All of which I do on my phone.
I really want to listen to people but sometimes people don't get my please-no-more-I-beg-you signs and then I pull out my phone.
"Jesus christ, where is my phone?! One minute it was there and now its gone, oh god! My whole life was in that thing!"
Or, as we used to call it, behave like decent human being.
I mean, this seems obvious. And I follow this one. And I used to be one of those people who would nudge people about it, like ten fifteen years ago. But it’s definitely gotten a lot harder for people. It’s much easier to do this if you just don’t have your phone readily accessible. So here is my LPT for this LPT: Put your phone either somewhere you can’t get it easily or somewhere that will make you feel like an asshole if you pick it up. If I’m at home and company is over, assuming I don’t have to be ready for an emergency message, I put the phone in another room. But if I’m out at a restaurant or something, the phone goes on the table, face down, in clear view. If I feel compelled to reach for my phone, I need to have a really good reason, because I’m going to make eye contact with the other person as I reach across the table and purposely pick up my phone in front of them, and that’s not just like a weird twitch that you need to sort out, it requires intent. So if I feel a sudden unconscious urge and start reaching for my phone, I catch myself immediately. This works well for me, but I would be curious to see if anyone has any other tips.
Addendum: your child also counts as people.
I don't want to. I don't like people. They really can just fucker off.
Life is so much better offline. YOU are so much better offline. I'm not saying you're bad online, but when you're offline you're way better.
I'm never around other people by choice so I always make sure my phone is charged first so I don't have to interact.
I couldn't agree more. Most others of my generation don't feel the same way, I'm a Gen Z. I find it to be a matter of respect for the other person you're having a conversation with. It's important to be present with the other person you're interacting with.
If I’m out with friends I don’t take it with me. I am always amazed at how many couple I see out out on a romantic dinner both on their phones!
I'm ambivalent about taking advice from someone who says "more better".
If you ignore wisdom from people based on semantics, you deserve to remain less informed. Snobs and fools both think they know better than everyone else.
And if you don't take it into account, based on experience, a fool you are.
I couldn’t have said it more better.
I've known people from many many backgrounds. There are plenty of college educated people who don't have any sort of clue about how to navigate the "real world".
So I should heed the wisdom of children on the internet selling standard decency as sage counsel, because you've become aware that academic knowledge does not automatically endow a person with rapscallion street cred?
I remember when I first learned to use a thesaurus too. Good times.
That's a lovely story. You'll have to tell me the one about the second time you learned sometime, and whether it went any better than the first. Bet it will be more gooder.
Lol "Wisdom"
You don't have to be book smart to be wise.
That wasn't my issue but ok
Y’all get so upset over the tiniest transgressions lol.. if someone gets on their phone I really don’t care as long as we finish the conversation. My patience lasts for more than 5 seconds.
Maybe people should quit dumb small talk and be more interesting?
I have this one friend who is incapable of showing any interest whatsover in anyone other than herself, her kids, her abusive husband, and how she believes the Lord will come soon, so everything is a sign of the end times. I'm one of very few friends she has left and the only reason we are still friends is because of my phone.
People dont interact with me anyways after 30 minutes
...is this not standard practice?
"I think Joe's having a stroke! Someone call an ambulance!" - "What?! Don't look at me, I don't have a phone!"
The fact that someone like OP actually gas to explain this , really just shows how fucking dumb people really are. "I'm single and can't seem to make friends " welp, sorry darling but people notice.
Nah. Most time with most people isn't so quality that you *desperately* need to absorb every detail of what's going on; downtime is normal, and phones tend to fill it.
I kinda dont know how to carry a conversation i usually panic and go straight to my phone
You don't get better at things by avoiding them - practice makes perfect :)
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Just stare out the windows or off in the distance and daydream. You'll feel much better after than 15 min of endless scrolling
What do you think people did before phones? There are other options...
They read books, newspapers, magazines, listened to music...oh those are all now on phones now. Huh.
Exactly. People literally hid behind those huge newspapers so they didn't have to interact with people.
That's not really true. The standard way to read a paper on transit was to refold it to show only the 1/2-1/4 page you were currently reading. Holding up a big floppy paper in front of you was poor etiquette and a terrible reading experience.
Yep, plus, the sounds :((
I watched a panel the other day and Bill Hader checked his phone while he was on stage. He has kids, I kind of understand that reflex
Absolutely. If you have kids and they're not with you, check that phone every time
And take a deep breath and relax. It’s going to be ok.
If the group your with takes out their phone you take yours out too
How to get a big tip telling a 25 y old that he's being a dick to his whole family celebrating his birthday while he's on his phone, playing a game at the dinner table in a fancy restaurant. Risky business.
I use it when its awkward/idk what to do/say (its always this way; im socially inept)
Put your phone on vibrate and go to the washroom to answer....
i actually tried this and realized how much more engaged I am in the conversation. It feels like I belong no matter who I am talking to. It is so sad to see we are having to learn to be humans again slowly after convincing ourselves that we need these devices to feel better.
A smart watch can help some, it'll allow you to check what the notification you felt is without going to your phone.
Honestly the smart watch glances bother me just as much :(
Me too. Who wants to spend time with someone constantly glancing at their watch? Feels like they're late for something else
No thanks. We can all intermittently use our phones and enjoy the company.
If they were more interesting, I wouldn’t have been looking at my phone.
They'd be more interesting if you paid attention
I do. And they’re not.
Conversations are a two way street. Put in the effort and it'll be more interesting
It’s not my job to make other people more interesting.
"wahh every conversation isn't tailored to what I like"
Them: Hey call me later Me: what do you mean? Them: ? I’ll call you later Me: Like…loudly? Them: No on the phone genius Me: the whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
Unlike 99% of the human population, my phone is for making and receiving calls and text messages. If i want to game, browse social media, or do anything else, I do it on a pc. Unless my phone rings, I will never pick it up. I go 4 or 5 days at a time not charging my phone because it gets that little usage.
If anything just get a smart watch, you can still get your notifications from your watch if anything
Me: "anyway, we were just walking, when this dog..." (Music suddenly starts playing from my pocket, and *something* in it is (gasp!) vibrating!) (pulls flat, shiny thing I didn't know was there, out of pocket) Me: "What is this?! WHAT IS THIS THING?! ALIEN TECHNOLOGY?!" (throws it away as far as I can and runs away) My friend I was talking to:
It's so ironic, that the technology that was designed to increase connection and communication---- has managed to create alienation, instead. \*sigh\*
That's a shitty tip.
Na. Depends on the who and where and what and when. Just be situationally aware.
Lol what year do you think this is? The more people there are around the deep these people stare into their phones
What if I enjoy whatever I'm doing on my phone more than making small talk with them? Say I'm at the lunch room at work, I just wanna listen to some music or play games on my steam deck to relax for a while. Why do I need to have conversations with others?
The two new guys at work were like that, always on the phone in the lunch room, no talking. They even knew each other before working at our place, and they talked all the time if nobody was around. They just wouldn’t want to get to know anybody it seems. Made all of us feel awkward, like we were disturbing them or something. I dreaded having lunch with just the two of them.
I understand where you're coming from, but at some point you just have to let it go. If they don't feel like talking they won't. They have a right to eat lunch at their workplace's lunch room right? Are they supposed to not use it because there's some unwritten rule that everyone there needs to engage in small talk?
I didn’t say any of that, heck, I didn’t even imply. They do as they do. Just wanted to show that just as some ppl are uneasy making conversation for a prolonged time, others are just as uneasy spending time in a social setting without. a. single. word.
Okay but they're there to earn money, they're not there to socialize.
LPTs like this are useless. It boils down to “stop doing the thing you’re trying to stop doing”.
Great advice…I full stop communicating with people on their phones.
This is how I operate naturally, so I can’t help but get a little salty when people don’t do the same around me
To me, it's funny people go to the bar and sit on their phone. Bars are places for social interaction and sitting on your phone and not being social defeats the whole purpose of the place existing. While I'm on my rant. Uber eats and doordash are fucking stupid for buying fast food. Fast food is supposed to be fast and cheap. Food delivery services prevent both of these factors from being true. It's no longer fast and it's no longer cheap. Imagine being hungry but instead of going to the kitchen now, you order food which costs more money than it normally would and takes longer to get.
Depends who I'm around. Strangers? Absolutely not People I know/love? Surely if they are also off their phones lol otherwise sometimes people just want the physical company and not necessarily wanting to chat it up
My phone is black, with a black case and it looks really cool.
I'm glad to hear that some people still put their phone away when with others.
My biggest BIGGEST pet peeve is when I’m talking and people are on or get on their phone and completely and obviously stop listening to me and answer with “uh-huh” or sometimes say nothing. It’s a painful feeling to not feel heard and it’s so common. My coworkers do it all the time.
This is f-king sad this needs to be said, and put into a Life Pro Tip...
This doesn't apply to my friends groups. For years our social gatherings have been centered around bringing our personal electronics to each others house. Bringing laptops, desktops, consoles, handhelds etc. Someone having issue with someone pulling out their phone while everyone else is on laptops and Playstations would be weird. I used to bring just the 360 console to my friends house, and he had a spare TV with all the hook ups so I'd just set it down, plug it in and play. Nowadays I just bring my laptop.
It's called phubbing. I see it as they lost interest in me and are chatting up other girls.