Ashish Kothari reflects on how smartphones have killed casual conversation. He remembers talking to strangers in line at Six Flags before phones existed, then contrasts it with today's anxiety and constant scrolling during any brief wait.
I remember it was about 20 years ago that I first went to a Six Flags. I had moved to the US in 97, around 99, 2000, I had a chance to go to Six Flags and I loved it. But one thing that was very clear when I was there, I reflect back on that moment. They have long queues. And what did we do when we were standing in queues? We looked around, we talked to the neighbors behind, we exchanged stories. We connected. We noticed the beauty around us when we went for a hike outside. Yes, we had to carry extra cameras because our phones didn't have cameras, but we were present when we went out to restaurants. We could connect to our spouses, to our kids, because there were no iPads and there were no iPhones. That took our attention away. But now, even when we wait for two minutes in an elevator night up, we pick out our phones. When we wait at a red light, we pick up our phones. In fact, a large number of adults, actually, and teenagers are so anxious if the phone is not with them. It's almost like they've become like our oxygen breathing devices. We can't survive without oxygen. But friends, we can survive without phones.
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