One of my favourite past times is to people watch, I really enjoyed it a lot on my last holiday. The more I was watching people the more I was noticing a new style of dining. Many families that were going for dinner with their children did not talk or communicate with one another. It really amazed me that so many people take their iPods, Phones and tablets out before they even look at their menus.
Don’t get me wrong, I love technology I used them regularly myself, but I think there is a time when technology needs to take a break, and meal times are one of them. It was interesting to watch how very few parents object to their children’s gadgets at the dinner table what happened to light and enjoyable conversations at the table? Holidays can be a time to catch up with stories, observations, or just have a laugh together.
I could not get over one young girl who checked on the Internet the amount of calories her dish had and then proceeded to announce this to her parents, am I missing something here?
Another boy left the table with his iPad in the middle of dinner to Skype with his friend; his parents just excused him, because he did not see him for while…
One waiter could not even find a place to put the menus on the table; the technology gadgets took the place.
No wonder we have such a confused relationship with our bodies. Instead of tasting, connecting, talking and sharing one another’s time, some of us are being consumed by technology and allowing it to cross an unhealthy boundaries in our lives and relationships.
Instead of using our gustatory sense to taste the product of chef’s creativity, we are Googling some numbers, which will work for everyone in a very different way anyway.
Many families looked like they were attending a business meeting, not a holiday dinner. What happened to allowing to enjoy the pleasant ambiance and giving time to digest and talk? Maybe it is time these children hear the sentence ‘Put that down…’ more often. No wonder people have low self-esteem; there is such a thing as right place and a right time. I know technology is very important, but it cannot interfere with real life experiences. I was very surprised that parents do not use the word ‘NO’, I am sure it could be more interesting listening to what their young children have to say rather then watching them isolate themselves by playing with their gadgets.
Sometimes it is good to forget the gigabytes and to enjoy one another’s company at the dinner tables instead.
M:)
