Do We Need the Internet?

Last night my wife and I stopped off for dinner at a local Mexican joint, and after we sat down, I quickly counted 22 other diners in the place. Why did I count the size of the house? Because I wanted to count how many people were on their phones. Result: eighteen.

That’s right, of the 22 men and women (along with three or four kids) who were either eating their dinners or waiting to be served, 18 were either looking at their phones, or showing someone else a screen-shot on their phones, or just having their phone turned on even if no new message was coming in.

In the interests as they say of full disclosure, I own a droid and subscribe to AT&T. The phone has complete internet access, including email, but I never turn it on. I keep it in the car and only use it if God forbid I break down. I’m 78 y/o and the last thing (or almost the last thing) I’m going to do is change a flat tire or go underneath and try to fix my car.

That’s the reason I’m a member of AAA. Changing a flat tire — that’s their job, okay?

Not only don’t I take my droid with me when I’m not in my car, I also have never downloaded a single app onto my phone. Yea, yea, I know that I’m losing ten cents for every gallon of gas I pump into the car at the station next to the local Stop & Shop. So what? Big, friggin’ deal.