I see it just about every time I go out. I saw it today when I was at Starbuck's writing in my journal. Two motorcyclists sat at the table next to me, holla'd at me for a second, talked for a good five minutes, and then one of them got on the phone. Why do people go out to places with each other, sit face to face, and then talk on the phone to someone else? And then when they're with the "someone else" in person, then they get on the phone to talk to the person they used to be sitting in front of. When did we get to this point that we don't say, "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to call you back because I have company." I NEVER talk on the phone when I have company or am out with someone unless it's business related or they're doing something else.
Case and point, I had an out-of-town associate chill at my spot a few weeks back. She was working on a homework assignment, so I got on the phone and started messing around on the computer. As soon as she was done, I was off. If I have a guy friend over, best believe he has my full attention. I don't even check my email around a guy I'm hollering at. I'd rather do it when he leaves (not that I have anything to hide, but if that's somebody you're interested in, email should come second).
I hate to sit next to someone on the train (although they always manage to sit next to me) who wants to talk on the phone. I'll get up and move or ice grill them in a minute.
I don't follow too many celebrities on Twitter, but I just saw a tweet about one talking about how he was going to beat his wife in UNO. All I was thinking was, "Dude, you're on the road nonstop. Why are you even tweeting? Your full attention should be on your wife!" But she was tweeting about it too, so I guess that's okay. Call me old school, but I feel like if someone is in front of me, they should get 100% of my attention, not 50% while the other 50% is with someone on the phone or on the computer. I try not to even get on the computer while I'm on the phone because I get distracted so easily and folks hang up on me, especially my mother.
When did we get so social phobic to the point where we'd rather talk to someone we can't see versus someone we can touch?