over the phone

There are some days when I want to set my blackberry on fire and watch it slowly burn into a cool metallic molasses of jpegs and mp3s. I've never been a die-hard fan of all the latest and greatest in modern technology, but I think it's quite unavoidable to not incorporate it into your life in one way or another. But this post is about contempt and not praise or gratitude. With that said, I feel as though cell phones are slowly but surely extinguishing any real relationships we have with people... but maybe that's just me. I seem to be the only one annoyed with it- or maybe just the only one that vocalizes any frustrations. I understand that cell phones help us to keep in contact with each other. They definitely help on those days when you're lost in a big city and can't find your way or when you're at the airport and need to call your brother to pick you up or when you're driving around trying to figure out which of your favorite restaurants is open for breakfast on Sunday. But what about the times when you are hanging out with your best friend over a coffee or sitting quietly at church or taking notes in the middle of a huge lecture hall or having a lovely dinner with someone special? Those are the times when I just want to shoot myself in the head. I mean, if it's just me and taking a cell phone call would be super inconvenient, I can always not answer the phone. But it is a little annoying when your blackberry messenger keeps going off or you're receiving ten texts in a row. But to me, the most horrible, heart-breaking thing in the world is when I'm trying to have a nice time with someone- just spend quality time with quality friends and they refuse to put away that stupid, annoying little sister of a pile of junk that we call a cell phone. I feel so pushed to the side. I'm sitting there in silence, enjoying my meal, coffee and what not and here they are typing away on their blackberry. I feel like I'm staring off into space and having a meal all by myself. In fact, I would rather just not hang out all together and postpone it to a time when I can actually have someone's full attention. As we all know, it's quality over quantity. I would rather see you once a week and have a great, uninterrupted time than to see you every single day and only have a small percent of your attention. Please, save me the humiliation. Really, it's quite embarassing to be sitting with someone that is completely infatuated with their cell phone and has obviously decided to disregard you entirely.

I really value my relationships with people. I like to talk. I like to hug. I like to see the facial expressions you make when I say outlandish things. I like to hear the sound of your laugh unmuffled and void of static interruption. I like giving power high-fives for totally excellent creative comments... But I can't do any of that... on my blackberry.