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Are you a slave of your smart phone?

Lady Speak
 Photo: Courtesy

Recently, I was at my local salon and something interesting caught my eye. I noticed that all the salon staff deposited their phones in one spot and were only allowed to pick them up when a call came through. And it’s not just picking calls from their girlfriends spreading ‘muchene’, they can only pick calls they deem necessary.

At first, I thought this was a really ‘draconian enforcement’, but when the owner of the salon explained to me the rationale behind this new rule, I was quite impressed.

“These girls used to do nothing but chat...chat...chat... the whole day. Sometimes, a client would walk in and out without the girls even noticing it because they are too busy on Whatsapp,” the no-nonsense salon owner explained to me.

“So when did you decide enough was enough,” I prodded on.

“One time one of the girls was applying chemical on a client’s hair and when she was done, as she waited for it to process, she started chatting on her phone.

As she was chatting, the client kept telling her that she was burning, but she kept assuring the client ‘nywele haijaiva’. She was so engrossed on her phone by the time she washed the client’s hair, her scalp was badly burned. I ended up losing a client and I also fired the girl. Since that day, I do not allow the girls to be on their smart phones,” she filled me in.

From that explanation, the ‘no phones rule’ made sense. I think this is a brilliant rule that should be enforced everywhere.

It appears the everybody is on their phones from house helps, to mothers to motorists so much so that simple activities that require some concentration like walking, eating, driving, have to be interrupted with a chat here, a tweet there.

This obsession with smartphones is causing us not only catastrophic harm, but we are also missing out on important milestones. House helps burn food almost every day because they are chatting, motorists have caused serious accidents because they are on Twitter, mothers have missed important milestones in their children’s life all because they are putting updates on Facebook.

Picture this: A one-year-old starts making their maiden steps, and instead of the mother celebrating with the toddler, they log on to social media announcing to the world how their cute little thing has made their first steps. Why can’t this excited mum just put away the smart distraction and relish the moment with the child?

Instead of enjoying the moment we are glued on our phones telling everybody what is happening. I think we are really missing it.

I have made a deliberate effort to enjoy little life’s pleasures without the distraction of a smart phone. For instance, when I am at home, you will rarely find me on Facebook or Whatsapp, because that is purely family time.

The sad thing is so many of us are more aware of what is happening online, and disconnected to what is happening in real life. So are you a slave of your smart phone?

 

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