OMG, LOL, TTYL...WTF Okay seriously we need to address this issue right here, right now. I swear on everything that is sacred, holy and valuable in my life, if I see one more parent ignoring their child's very existence in order to post a "selfie", respond to a text or create a status update...I'm seriously going to give up on humanity. Now before I go any further I am just as guilty of this as the next everyday, law abiding citizen. So I am not judging anyone just making a broad statement that even I am going to try and start following... Today on two separate occasions I literally witnessed two near death experiences because of a stupid cell phone, I know, I know. "Rob cell phones don't kill people, people kill people". Hey we get it so here it is. This morning on my way to drop my youngest son off at daycare I watched a women make a right turn, pull out of traffic directly in front of me, and go right into oncoming traffic before she quickly swerved to recover. She put an oncoming car in harm's way, which I it drove past me I looked over and saw at least three people in the vehicle. She put myself and my youngest son in harm's way as well, so the potential body count is at 5 now for anyone who is counting. At a red light I caught up to her and pulled next to her, as I glance over still trying to recover from the mild stroke she just gave me I witnessed her playing with her cell phone. I then proceeded to look in her back seat, where I saw two little girls bouncing around like hamsters on a sugar high. So we are now at 8, eight potential dead people because you had to respond to Emily's fucking selfie or whatever. Okay so that is one near death experience. The second one didn't happen that much later on, after going to the store to pick a few things up I was walking through the parking lot when I noticed a teenager walking in the row next to me. I noticed him mainly because my first thought was "shouldn't he be in school". He had his headphones in and was playing with his phone. At this point shockingly because we were in a parking lot, you know...where people park...er, um...THEIR CARS! Anyway a vehicle was driving towards the self absorbed teen and tried to whip into an empty spot like it was the last one left. By the way today was Tuesday and this is around 10 am...so in other words...plenty of empty spaces. By whipping into the lot this vehicle barely missed turning this kid into a speed bump, of course the kid got upset started yelling. Two women than proceed to exit the vehicle and both of them are either talking on or playing on their phones, and the best part...the driver begins yelling at the kid that HE should pay attention. Sorry lady but in the realm of attention paying I think the 120lb kid is not required to look out for your 2,000 pound machine! So that was the second near death experience, so basically this morning I watched eleven people, or the equivalent of an NFL team starting offense roster almost lose their lives because their cell phones were the most important thing in the world. Here's the thing, I know how entertaining it is. Trust me I have heard plenty of comments about removing my face from the phone screen. Our overall lack of attention paid while on them is the thing that gets me...I guess this is why having one in your hand while driving is illegal. Bigger picture...what are you missing in your life on a daily basis because your stuck glued to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any of these other sites? When is the last time you saw a sunset and not taken a picture of it to share? When is the last time you actually talked to your friends and not just emailed or instant messaged them? I posted a video on the homepage today that I found quite powerful...I hope when you get done reading this you go check it out. We are missing our lives guys! We are so infatuated with this idea of social media that we in turn have become anti-social. It amazes me when I get a friend request on Facebook and than message the person and their response is almost like I just offered them their choice of STDs. If you didn't want to talk to me than why are we now friends? Why would you be interested in my life when the idea of a conversation to you is such a foreign thing that it makes you shrivel your face and turn up your nose? The reality, put your FUCKING PHONE DOWN! I using this language to get through to you, because the only thing better then vulgarity is sexually explicit...but I don't think you'd get where I was coming from if I inserted a scene from a pornography, and lets be honest, as men once we started seeing that I would lose you attention and you would have to clear you search history at some point. Anyway...so, yes put down the phone, just put it down and walk away. You are aware that life doesn't pause when you look away from it right? Your kids are still growing...and I guarantee you that most of that stuff...it will still be there later. We wonder why we feel so alone sometimes and it is because our relationships with our devices is more prevalent than our relationships with people. Remember being a kid and being forced to spend time outside, or using your...imagination...you know that thing you tap into now when you try to come up with a not true story of where you were, what you were doing,...who you were doing it with? Here's the thing, if you cannot do any of these things then how can you expect your kid to go play by themselves without a phone of their own, it's our duty as fathers to show our children how to live, if we do it buried behind electronic devices, than so will they. |
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