I saw a booth at the restaurant with four Millennials on their phones paying no attention to each other.

who are you to judge others' pursuit of happiness? Mind your own business.

Why do you fcking care?

just imagine the children that these kids will raise...lots more psychopaths on the way.

How do you know they weren't texting each other?

u r sensitive wrote:

Why do you fcking care?

If they were shooting heroin into their veins would you care?

I care too wrote:

u r sensitive wrote:

Why do you fcking care?

If they were shooting heroin into their veins would you care?

Yes

Not That Old wrote:

All four were captivated by their iPhones and were pretty much silent. You wouldn't think they even noticed each other until they took a group selfie as they left.

This has become a familiar social formation in recent years. What's interesting is how much heat you've already gotten for simply reporting this fact.

Those of us who grew up in a different world--at 57, I'm older than you--look on in astonishment and dismay. It never occurred to us, growing up, that four kids in a booth were actually gracing each other with their attention until things began to change in the way that you've observed. Now, retrospectively, the previously unrecognized value of that attention seems clear.

My question is, Why do four young people take the trouble of getting together at a restaurant if they're going to pay more attentions to their phones--and lots of other "people": FB "friends," YT vids, Instagram photos, Grinder pix, etc.--than to each other? Unless it's all just an excuse for a group selfie. What does that selfie actually memorialize? What, precisely, does the photo help them remember? That they were physically present but attentionally absentee?

It doesn't make any sense to me. To us.

Less Than Zero.

Was it at the end of the meal? Maybe they were all looking up movie times or something for after or what their plan was next? That's pretty normal. Also, it's been studied and shown that younger people can actually be on their phones and still communicate with people while older people cant multitask like that. For reference I'm 27 and would never be on my phone during a dinner like that unless it was the end and we were figuring out movie times etc.

I saw a couple boomers silently read their newspapers (lol) at a restaurant.

It's not a generational thing

My wife and I are on our phones a lot during dinners out cause we already spend the whole day together and often run out of things to talk about and we enjoy spending quiet time together.

Why don't you mind your own business and stop silently judging how we live our lives! ;-)

Mmm, ever been to Starbucks?

I'm 27 and went out to dinner with my roommate before we went to a game the other day. He spent the whole time on his phone. It made it very awkward and impossible to have a conversation.

I agree it is really annoying when I hangout with friends and all they are doing is snap chatting/tweeting with random people constantly.

I like the idea of "being in the moment" and enjoying interacting with people directly. I consciously refrain from using my phone whenever I hangout with other people.

Luckily I only have a few friends that are glued to their phones.

WhitePony wrote:

My wife and I are on our phones a lot during dinners out cause we already spend the whole day together and often run out of things to talk about and we enjoy spending quiet time together.

Why don't you mind your own business and stop silently judging how we live our lives! ;-)

48 million hits on the following video, about a young woman surrounded by people like you and your wife. She never judges; she just sees clearly. It's never too late to wake up:

You know, throughout history, I bet every old man probably said the same thing. And old men die, and the world keep spinning.

old men die wrote:

You know, throughout history, I bet every old man probably said the same thing. And old men die, and the world keep spinning.

Why aren't these people talking to each other?!?

Agree, well said. Just reporting what I saw, not trying to make any rash judgments.

KudzuRunner wrote:

WhitePony wrote:

My wife and I are on our phones a lot during dinners out cause we already spend the whole day together and often run out of things to talk about and we enjoy spending quiet time together.

Why don't you mind your own business and stop silently judging how we live our lives! ;-)

48 million hits on the following video, about a young woman surrounded by people like you and your wife. She never judges; she just sees clearly. It's never too late to wake up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8

My wife and I talk about everything, but at the same time we can enjoy each other's company just being together without having to fill every second with conversation.

If we are out with friends we do not have our phones out.

lol, last week I saw a Millennial in a Target Store with a selfie stick. Of course, she took a pic of herself while waiting in the checkout line.