F*CK PHUBBING
Never heard of phubbing? But I bet you do it? Phubbing is the phenomenon where the phone always takes precedence over interpersonal contact.
I had it already when I was the editor-in-chief at RTL Boulevard. It was so incredibly busy there that usually two or three editors stood in a row by my desk to discuss their drafts. But a clever intern would always call me. And I would pick up that phone. He would wave cheerfully from the other side of the editorial office.
Super smart, because by calling, he cut off the other editors. It often happens in a store too. If I'm paying a hefty amount, the phone rings and then the saleswoman asks me to wait a moment and lets some random idiot talk to me.
‘Super smart, because by calling, he cut off the other editors’
It all comes from earlier times, of course. Back then, calling was still important. I remember that my father (sailor) always called on Friday evenings with a collect call. “Hi, I’d like to connect you to captain Mobach, are you willing to accept the charges?” a nasal American lady would ask. Really, such a conversation. That was something.
Meanwhile, the phone has become so ingrained in our daily routine that a message or a call is no longer really super special, but still, a glowing screen always has the power to interrupt a good conversation. While that message really doesn’t carry the weight of, for example, that weekly long-distance phone call from my father from an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
‘Then quickly checked our Amayzine WhatsApp group..’
Recently, someone came over for coffee and I caught myself having to finish an Instagram post first and then quickly check our Amayzine WhatsApp group. Although I must say that sometimes world-shattering messages are shared in our Amayzine app group. Like the photos of a pregnant Trijntje Oosterhuis in a bikini.
I have already interrupted typing this piece six times because something popped up that demanded my attention. The photo of pregnant Trijntje, for example. A message from Bart, the editor of De Slimste. And since I had the device in my hand, I immediately checked how many likes my last Insta post had received.
Shall we agree to put the phone back in our bag and take it out when we feel like it and have time? It would really save me hours, what am I saying, weeks: time.
