2008 Woodie Awards
Put down the cell phone and make a friend
Amanda Waas
Issue date: 9/30/04 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Being the ridiculously outgoing person that I am, I did not really have a problem making friends my first week of college. If I was walking to a class or walking back to the dorm and saw a stranger walking next to me, I'd introduce myself. The standard, "Hi, I'm ______ and I'm from _______" worked very well. And if I wanted to get extra fancy, I would throw in a wild card question like "what's your
major?"
Everyone seemed to be a lot more open to meeting people the first week. After that first week, forget about it. People established their own little cliques of friends and were completely closed off to meeting new people. And that's when the cell phones came out. Now, when I walk to class, even if I wanted to start up a conversation with someone walking next to me, I wouldn't be able to, for fear of interrupting the conversation they're having with someone on the phone.
Who are they talking to? Is the topic of the conversation pertinent and important or are they just filling time? The answer to that question is probably the latter. Society has made us so insecure that we need to be talking to someone. If someone is not with us, we have to be on our cell phones because, oh man, could not possibly be seen walking alone, not talking to anyone. Wow, that would be horrible if we actually were seen out in public, alone, and not on the phone.
Are we losers if we're alone and we don't have a cell phone attached to our ears? I'm not sure about that, but honestly, every time I am walking somewhere on campus, I'm surrounded by people on their cell phones. And now, I feel like in order to be a cool kid, I need to talk on my cell phone too.
Last week, my father came up to visit me, and I sat on a bench by the Donnelly parking lot, waiting for him to arrive. Seeing the comings and goings of my fellow students, the majority of them on their phones, made me feel completely unhip because I was sitting on the bench, alone, with no phone glued to my ear.
So I whipped out my cell phone and began to go through my directory. Realizing that I had no one I wanted to talk to in there, I resorted to playing black jack and totally draining my phone's battery. By the way, my current black jack addiction can be directly traced back to the SPC-sponsored Casino Night. Thanks a lot, guys, now I need to go to GA. And for you geography buffs, that's Gambler's Anonymous, not Georgia. Anyway, my point is, we all need to realize that being on the phone constantly is just hindering our friend-making potential. And if you see me walking, come up to me say hello. Make a new friend.
major?"
Everyone seemed to be a lot more open to meeting people the first week. After that first week, forget about it. People established their own little cliques of friends and were completely closed off to meeting new people. And that's when the cell phones came out. Now, when I walk to class, even if I wanted to start up a conversation with someone walking next to me, I wouldn't be able to, for fear of interrupting the conversation they're having with someone on the phone.
Who are they talking to? Is the topic of the conversation pertinent and important or are they just filling time? The answer to that question is probably the latter. Society has made us so insecure that we need to be talking to someone. If someone is not with us, we have to be on our cell phones because, oh man, could not possibly be seen walking alone, not talking to anyone. Wow, that would be horrible if we actually were seen out in public, alone, and not on the phone.
Are we losers if we're alone and we don't have a cell phone attached to our ears? I'm not sure about that, but honestly, every time I am walking somewhere on campus, I'm surrounded by people on their cell phones. And now, I feel like in order to be a cool kid, I need to talk on my cell phone too.
Last week, my father came up to visit me, and I sat on a bench by the Donnelly parking lot, waiting for him to arrive. Seeing the comings and goings of my fellow students, the majority of them on their phones, made me feel completely unhip because I was sitting on the bench, alone, with no phone glued to my ear.
So I whipped out my cell phone and began to go through my directory. Realizing that I had no one I wanted to talk to in there, I resorted to playing black jack and totally draining my phone's battery. By the way, my current black jack addiction can be directly traced back to the SPC-sponsored Casino Night. Thanks a lot, guys, now I need to go to GA. And for you geography buffs, that's Gambler's Anonymous, not Georgia. Anyway, my point is, we all need to realize that being on the phone constantly is just hindering our friend-making potential. And if you see me walking, come up to me say hello. Make a new friend.