While we might not admit it many of us have a serious problem, one that I don’t believe there is even a name for yet.  Actually there is: .addiction. 

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Oh it may not rate up there with alcohol or drug addiction, smoking or gambling but it is clearly one that is growing.  Millions and I do mean millions of Americans are addicted to their cell phones and smart phones and you only have to be a good observer to pick up on this.

 

Obviously the level of addiction varies, just like it might with the ones we are far more familiar with.  Its one thing to rely on your phone to stay in touch with your family or work but today it seems like many are so glued to their mobile device that they are unaware of things taking place around them.

Part of this is our need for immediacy, so much so they we can’t wait even a minute or two to deliver or share information.  It’s hard to imagine that not all that long ago that we depended on pay phones to communicate when we were not home or in the office and today’s younger generation acts as if that era was right around the time man discovered fire.

Of course most adults have distinct memories of the pay phone days and times when you didn’t have change, lost money in the phone or had trouble finding one that wasn’t totally disgusting.  However we managed.

Today though it’s all about speed so when you have a reason to talk with someone it doesn’t matter where and when, you need to get to them NOW.  Sure we know it’s illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving but how many of us break the law with regularity and think nothing of it.

pay phone
pay phone (flickr user katmeresin
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Of course for many talking on the cell phone is almost foreign because they only communicate via text and there is no doubt many are suffering some form of addiction to this.  The younger generation moves their thumbs over the letters and numbers at a breathtaking pace and often in a language all their own.  They do it while talking, walking, and running on a treadmill, studying for a test, in the movies, shopping and far too often driving a car.

It's not just younger people but in truth some of us older folks can’t text when we drive because we can’t.  Plus I need my reading glasses.

 

Seriously though it’s just a matter of time if it hasn’t already happened when some treatment center begins advertising that it now offers help to those addicted to their mobile device.  IMHO that day is not far away.  Of course this is just my POV and FWIW I hope I’m exaggerating all of this.  BTW I can’t imagine being without my I Phone….TTYL.

 

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