Cell Phone ... Community

In my absence of blogging over the past month I have observed a few things. One of the main things that sticks out to me is how obnoxious we have let our cell phones become. Wow, it's bad. I remember when I got my first cell phone; I was 16 and had just started driving. My parents wanted me to have it in case of an emergency. I hardly used it. Now a days it's unheard of for a person under 16 to not have a cell phone. People think they cannot live without it and the whole world will come to an end if they do not have one, or if something happens to theirs. 10+ years ago hardly anyone had a cell phone and they survived and are still surviving today.

Now, there is nothing wrong with cell phones, I have one myself and am very thankful for it. However, I think cell phones have caused us to loose a true sense of community and real communication. I can remember back to when I was growing up. If I went down the street to a friend's house I didn't call my parent's cell phone, I left them a note taped to the door or on the counter of where I was. If I wanted to talk to someone, I would talk to them in person or call them, not text them. Although I am guilty of texting I do not consider it a real form of conversing. To me, this should be done in person, or via voice to voice communication on the phone. It's hard to know what the text really means sometimes and the real message can get lost in translation so easily.

Since we do insist on using a cell phone or texting I think we should be courteous about it. Please use cell phone etiquette...

TEXTING:
~ if you're in the company of others, please refrain. You should be focused on the people you're hanging out with. If you would rather be focused on your texting then leave. If you're hanging out with me and are texting regularly, then based on your actions i'm going to think you don't really want to be around me.
~ if you're with a group of people (more than 2) do not text someone else in the group. if you have something to say, say it out loud. And if you can't say it out loud please save it for later. How do you feel when you walk into a room and learn that you're being talked about.... not the best feeling in the world; well that should go for texting as well

PHONE CONVERSATIONS:
~ if you're with other people, please refrain from talking on the phone, especially if you're in a small area like a car. Either leave the room or talk to the person later. You're full attention is not going to be on either person, and that tends to get annoying at times.
~ if you're talking on a phone in public, please, lower your voice. You don't have to yell into the phone, the other person can hear you just fine as well as everyone else around you.

I am guilty of doing all of these things. It wasn't until I started noticing them within other people that I started noticing them within myself and was convicted. Did I really have that bad of cell phone manners? Probably. Thankfully, I have grown up and learned that my life does not revolve around my cell phone and that there is more to life than my cell phone and better ways to communicate with people.

Do you think cell phones help or hurt true community? I think both. They help connect us, yet distract us. Community, the word, is from the old french and latin meaning "with/together" and "gift". If we are living in community, as I think we should, we should be with each other, together, and it is a gift. I like that. I'm praying to build community, real community, this summer. I have no clue what it'll look like or what it'll consist of, but I know it will involve limited cell phone use and i'm excited! :)