Great post. 100% agree. My husband and I have a marriage exemption: we take great pleasure in reading at the table in restaurants as a form of parallel play. We read each other passages from books or articles, or pass memes back and forth. After 37 years -- and since we're together 24/7 -- we appreciate some fresh topics. It's exactly wh…
Great post. 100% agree. My husband and I have a marriage exemption: we take great pleasure in reading at the table in restaurants as a form of parallel play. We read each other passages from books or articles, or pass memes back and forth. After 37 years -- and since we're together 24/7 -- we appreciate some fresh topics. It's exactly what our parents used to do at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper together.
But Miss Manners should be writing articles about how unacceptable it is to pester anyone, anywhere, with the noise of your devices. It's downright ill-bred and tacky.
Voluntarily deafening yourself with earbuds is equally anti-social. if I'm out walking, I only put in one earbud, because both will deprive me of too much situational awareness. I don't know how people can feel safe out on the streets not being able to hear the crazy guy coming up behind you, or the backup beep of an oncoming truck, or someone hollering that you dropped your scarf. The world of the street is interactive, and sound is a lot of that interaction. You cut off that channel at your own risk.
When we attended performances in China, the ushers wandered up and down the aisles during the show with laser pointers. Anyone with a lit screen in their hand would soon find the image disrupted by a pinpoint of red light. It was a silent but effective way to be shamed into putting the damn thing away.
Great post. 100% agree. My husband and I have a marriage exemption: we take great pleasure in reading at the table in restaurants as a form of parallel play. We read each other passages from books or articles, or pass memes back and forth. After 37 years -- and since we're together 24/7 -- we appreciate some fresh topics. It's exactly what our parents used to do at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper together.
But Miss Manners should be writing articles about how unacceptable it is to pester anyone, anywhere, with the noise of your devices. It's downright ill-bred and tacky.
Voluntarily deafening yourself with earbuds is equally anti-social. if I'm out walking, I only put in one earbud, because both will deprive me of too much situational awareness. I don't know how people can feel safe out on the streets not being able to hear the crazy guy coming up behind you, or the backup beep of an oncoming truck, or someone hollering that you dropped your scarf. The world of the street is interactive, and sound is a lot of that interaction. You cut off that channel at your own risk.
When we attended performances in China, the ushers wandered up and down the aisles during the show with laser pointers. Anyone with a lit screen in their hand would soon find the image disrupted by a pinpoint of red light. It was a silent but effective way to be shamed into putting the damn thing away.