The Respect App

Call me old fashioned but I think smart phones should be banned in India. Honestly, I have started hating this gadget. There was a time when I was crazily texting and using smart phones for everything but now I don’t use it at all. It is just the amount of lethargy it puts into you which is disgusting. These gadgets are evil they have the capability to isolate you from the real world.

Today, my mom and I went to a restaurant, a very cheap one where they serve local food. We are regulars there rather I am a regular to that restaurant. I have been going there from my school days. Today, I saw a couple of girls entering the restaurant. They sat in a table next to me. My mom and I were busy bitching about a lot of things while I noticed these two. One of them had a cell phone in her hand and she was continuously texting someone. She was giggling, smiling, frowning basically showing all types of emotions to the mobile. Her friend who was sitting next to her was looking at us and everybody else around. Apparently, she was getting bored. Occasionally she would turn to talk to the girl with the mobile but that girl would still be busy texting so she would stop talking to her. That was downright disrespectful. If I were in the girl’s situation I would have left the restaurant. The food came, they ate while the other girl was still texting throughout her dinner and they left. They were friends. They came half an hour after us and left before us. I sat there wondering if there will be a time when people will have friends only on facebook and whatsapp. When I meet my friends we would end up talking the whole day and will still not be done! Although this hamare zamaane mein dialogue makes me feel old I am happy that I am not a part of this generation because I might have to die alone or with cell phones, tablets and laptops that do not actually understand human emotions.

(image - Google)

If you cannot respect the person sitting right next to you and talk to them do you really deserve that person in your life? That person had decided to invest time in you, respected you and come to the restaurant. But all you do is to fiddle with a mobile phone while they wait for you to be done with it. I wish people have a life out of Facebook, talk to people out of whatsapp and learn to live life the way we did and drop this sheer arrogance called technology!

But how can I blame technology when we choose chatting on whatsapp over having a chat with a friend at a restaurant?