F*CK HET PHUBBING

Never heard of the term phubbing? But want to bet you’re guilty of doing it? Phubbing is the phenomenon where your phone gets top priority rather than interpersonal contact.

I noticed it back when I still worked as an end producer for a Dutch TV show. It was always extremely hectic and busy that I usually had about two or three editors at my desk wanting to discuss their intent. But I always had a resourceful intern give me a call when my desk was barricaded. And I would always answer the call and see him give me a friendly wave from across the office.

Brilliant plan if I may say so, because it was the easiest way to put a halt to all the ramblings from the other editors. You see the same thing happening in stores too. As I’m ready to swipe my card, the phone rings and the sales person asks me to wait until some other lousy employee helps me complete the transaction.

‘Brilliant plan if I may say so, because it was the easier way to put a halt to all the ramblings from the other editors.’

It all dates back to earlier times when calling someone was still important. I remember when my dad (the sailor) used to always call on Friday nights through a collect call. “Hi, I’d like to connect you to captain Mobach, are you willing to accept the charges?” was what I heard on the other end of the line. These convo’s were a huge deal back then.

Nowadays our phones have become an extension of ourselves and we are hardly ever seen without one and phone calls aren’t as special as they used to be, but for some reason a lit of screen still seems to be the easiest way to cut a convo. Even though that message isn’t nearly half as important as those weekly long distance phone calls from my dad on some oil rig off the Golf of Mexico were.

‘And then quickly checked the Amayzine Whatsapp group chat…’

I recently had someone over for coffee when I realized I was preoccupied finishing an Instagram post and then quickly checked the Amayzine Whatsapp group chat. Although I must admit that our group chat does include extensive convo’s about shocking world events. Like photos of a pregnant Kimmy K in sheer clothing.

Writing this has taken longer than it should to because I’ve been distracted give or take a time or six. Hilarious celebrity photos, messages from colleagues. And once I had my cell phone in hand, I quickly checked how many likes my last Insta-post had gotten.

How about we make a pact to leave our phones in our bags and only grab them when we actually have time to use them? It’ll save me hours, wait scratch that, weeks of time.