I Now Pronounce You Husband and...Cell Phone

Everyone is in a marriage: married to their cell phones. It seems ridiculous to think that this is where our society is now but it's true. How many people could go a full day without their cell phone? When you think of all of the things that we use our cell phones for, it's obvious we are dependant on them. How many people own a good, old-fashioned alarm clock? How about a day planner- the paper kind, you know, with the pages with days on them? A memo pad? You get the idea. It seems like peoples' lives are over if they don't have their cell phone with them at all times. When the power goes out and your cell phone dies, what do you do? With the invention of smart phones, no one has to look very far for something. Need to do online banking? All banks have online banking Apps. Need to remember something? Pull up the notepad on your phone. Alarm clocks, calendars, reminders, music and videos, Facebook, Twitter- it's all there on your smart phone that you conveniently take everywhere. No one communicates face to face or even through a phone call like they used to do. BBM, iMessage, text messages, and Facebook messages are the most common ways to talk to people now. We all want what is fast and easy and what will not take time out of our day to do.

A few weeks ago I went out to a club and got there early, before it started to fill up. I was upstairs where there is a lounge area that overlooks the dance floor. A friend of mine made a joke and pointed out to the dance floor. The only people who were dancing there was a group of about 6 girls in a circle facing inwards. Every single one of them were on their cell phones while attempting to dance by swaying their hips from side to side. These girls could not put their cell phones away to dance with their friends. This is an example of the dependency people have to their cell phones. We just can't go anywhere or do anything without them.

Here is a hilarious commercial outlining the exact point that I am making in this post.

The thing that I find ironic about this commercial is that it is a smart phone commercial. The Windows Phone does exactly what they are claiming they don't do in this commercial by having everything at the user's convenience. Thus you can be on a date and check your Facebook status. In reality, I would be offended if I was on a date and my date was using his phone to check Facebook or text people. However, the angle this commercial gets at is extremely relevant.

All of this aside, I don't think I could go without my cell phone for a day. I can resist using my cell phone during lectures and tests, or during a sport when I physically can't be near it, and I use it minimally when I am out with friends or at the bar. And I would never use it on a date.

Anyone willing to take the challenge of shutting their phone off for a day? I doubt it.