Cell phones

As I was riding the skytrain back home from yoga class, I happened to glance up and noticed that four out of five of my neighboring passengers had cell phones in their hands. None of them were talking, or even using them to text or play a game, they were just holding them. I then realized that the first thing I did at the end of a very relaxing yoga class was flip open my phone and check for new texts, then on went the internet: facebook, gmail...

Where does this obsession come from? Why do we need to know instantly that somebody, somewhere, is trying to connect with us? Is it because we fear that if we miss the call, or don't respond to an email fast enough that we will miss out on something? Or is it just some sort of safety blanket? I don't know.

Personally, I confess that whenever I'm bored, usually when I'm commuting, I flip open my phone and use it to distract myself in some way. What if I didn't have a phone? Then it would be my ipod. Ok, say I don't have an ipod, then what? Say I have no book, no work, no nothing, just me standing there waiting for a bus. I guess that I'd have to think, and just be there with my thoughts (kind of like meditation!?), which is a situation that we seem to avoid. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow, or maybe not. Just a thought.