It's happening everywhere causing mayhem around the civilized world. It has been the cause of death of the thing that seperates us from our closest genetic neighbors. If something isn't done soon it could doom the entire human race!
International task forces should be mobilized with mental health professionals ready in a support capacity. And yet it might not be enough to stop the creeping dread that crosses oceans, mountain ranges and reaches into sub space. I've seen children as young as 3 afflicted with teens and young adults in so deep no intervention could bring them back.
Please God help us. Help the human race avoid certain disaster. Put an end to the miseries inflicted by the epidemic known as PhoneFace!
The flicker of the screen as it comes to life draws the head down and the eyes to squint peering into the light straining to discern whether a friend has posted anything to your timeline. Did something get pinned to Pintrest or did someone place something sexy in my tumblr account? Phone Face is killing conversation! PhoneFace is causing people to step off the curb and into oncoming traffic. PhoneFace is that text we make while driving cause we can't wait to pull over and, in doing so, might save a life, including our own. Stop PhoneFace!
A restaurant was losing revenue as well as getting bad customer service reviews. So the parent company sent a corporate representative there to observe and report what the employees were doing wrong with recommendations on how to reverse the situation. The complaints were that the wait staff was not friendly and that it was taking far too long to be served. One complaintant said it took over 30 minutes to have their order taken. The list was a menu for disaster at any restaurant.
After careful observation the rep reported back to headquarters that from what he observed there was little he could do to improve the wait staff employees' service.
He found the reason for an inordinate amount of time required for orders taken was the guests were on their phones and kept waving the waiter/waitress away until the conversation was completed. When the server returned the guest hadn't looked at the menu and sent them away again. In other cases they were face down in their PDA on an application, reading a book, or playing a game or watching a movie or listening to music through earbuds and hadn't picked up the menu causing the same delay. The waitress/waiter couldn't take their order and got busy with the customers who were responsive. When the rude PhoneFace customer was finally ready to order there was no one free to be at his beck and call which resulted in an unfavorable survey. The rep saw this happening repeatedly and realized there was only one course of action.
His suggestion was to not allow the use of phones at tableside to cure the long wait and the staff's frustration. The restaurant posted a request that, as a courtesy, guests would refrain from using their phone at the table until their orders were taken. I don't know any corporate owned eatery that would have the stones to ask patrons to put down their communication devices in order to be served but that's the story. Supposedly it reversed the downward spiral for the restaurant.
In truth it happens all the time. It happened at lunch today. Of the three of us at the table two were on their phones reading texts, checking FB notifications, looking up things, etc. It killed conversation. Now, granted, sometimes that is the sole purpose of pulling out the PDA or phone in the first place. We weren't alone. There were other tables with the same scenario being repeated. Of course that doesn't make it right.
Restaurants aren't the only place where PhoneFace causes problems. Been to a movie lately? What a pain in the arse when that person in front or in back or beside you lights it up and disturbs your ability to observe in the dark what you paid way too much to see. Even at the theater (playhouse) the glow of PhoneFace shines row after row. We have to ask audience members to shut the phones down as to not distract the actors and the less connected of their fellow attendees. We used to ask to have cell phones put on silent or vibrate which is now a laughably inadequate request.
So, this is an appeal. Please don't text or read a text while driving! Please don't check status while having dinner with family, friends or business associates. Cure PhoneFace. Bring back conversation. Let us see your eyes and hear your voice.
Today I watched a young man cross a 5 lane street downtown at 5:15 pm on a Friday without ever taking his eyes off his phone. I watched in awe as he never looked at traffic once. Maybe he was on an ap that showed a live satellite image guiding his blind crossing of the road. PhoneFace!
Get smart! Get Real! Put the damned phone down! Communicate!
This has been a public service announcement. Translate to your language and pass it on!
