During one pre-pandemic family party, I chanced to look around at a group of nephews and nieces who were scattered around the house and realized something. No one was talking. All of them were looking at this glistening brick in their hands, apparently glued on something.
At another time, while on the way to an event in a friend’s car, I noticed that her two kids were giggling, shaking their heads, and just laughing – to themselves. What was happening? I dared to be a busybody and asked them what’s so funny. And one of them placated me with, “Don’t worry, Tita. We are just talking to each other.” Talking without making any verbal noises while sitting beside each other? I don’t understand.
Since when did this become our new way of communication? To be there and yet, not there?
Nowhere in our history has an invention taken the world by storm. Everyone has to have it or else be left behind with the times. Even the balut vendor and the mag tataho have it. And where there are hold-ups happening in jeepneys or buses, it is always the first choice (no longer money) for the criminals.
On several occasions, I have even experienced a hair-pulling moment myself because I cannot locate – my cellphone! I find myself so attached to this 4×6 device, reaching out for it the moment I wake up, scrolling through it every hour, and ending my day by checking my messages and last-minute happenings on Meta (formerly Facebook), Twitter, and Instagram.
I have become an addict! And so has millions of others, whose lives have become intertwined with, and been dominated by a cellphone. Just look around you in doctor’s offices, hair salons – in everywhere – you see people waiting or just killing time, and you would see them hunched over their cellphones, oblivious to whatever is happening around them.
Too often, I have asked myself what will happen if the use and possession of a cellphone will be banned or outlawed all over the land. It would, most certainly, be chaotic for a time being because not only is it the general pipeline for everyone, but businesses and even governments use the cellphone for vital and everyday dealings. It could even trigger the collapse of an already brittle economy. Demonstrations to protest such unfair prohibitions will most definitely proliferate in the land. The withdrawal symptoms won’t be pretty but, as sure as there is night and day, someone will always come up with something even better and the addiction will start all over again.
But think about this. We can now go back to the time when we write letters instead of texting, meet with friends, and engage in real conversations. Not only that. Since our time is no longer consumed by looking at our cellphones 50x in a day, we can now look around and be more appreciative of the beauty of nature, go for hikes, go to open-air concerts, parks, gyms, have more interface gatherings, and otherwise focus on more productive activities.
If we are honest about it, not having a cellphone will not kill us, literally. We have lived without it during the 60s. And you will be surprised to know that there actually are people, who intentionally choose not to own a cellphone, for their own peace of mind.
For most though, it would not only be improbable but next to impossible to survive life without a cellphone on hand. Just like in any addiction, however, we should not allow our craving or use of any product to escalate to an unacceptable level where it will be injurious to our mental and physical health.
On the latter’s aspect, should we not worry about what the excessive use of cellphones can do to our body? Granted that only a minuscule amount of radio frequency radiation hits us each time we use our phones, but overtime, this exposure may lead to headaches, skin irritation, even depression, brain tumors, or reproductive problems.
We must learn to manage and restrict the use of our cellphones to OWN (only when needed) and to try to stay away from it as many times a day as possible. Could not do it? Don’t worry. I am not ready to give it up, either. And so, we’re doomed! – NWI
