As A.A. Gill laments the supposed death of phone calls, Matthew Steeples calls on readers to keep up the conversation
In this month’s Vanity Fair, A.A. Gill argues that “nobody talks on the telephone anymore” and that all we now do is text and email. His point is sadly true but what he misses is that even when people meet, many just sit playing with their smart phone devices.
In what he describes as a “nostalgia rant”, Gill points out that a recent survey revealed that speaking on the telephone is the sixth thing people now do on their phone and that texting is now the number one function. He laments this change as “communication without writing” but what I truly loathe is when people use mobile technology whilst in the company of others.
Some will no doubt call me a grump but when I arrange a drink or lunch with someone, I like to chat with them rather than to watch them text and email. This kind of behaviour is, I’d argue, the height of bad manners but it is now the acceptable norm. Some couples spend entire dinners on their phones whilst dining together and work colleagues think nothing of tapping away during meetings. Today, I call upon readers to consider the art of conversation and to think about just putting down that mobile – even if it is only for ten minutes.
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