Ok, at risk at sounding like a boomer, let me preface by mentioning a couple of things: I am in my mid 30's, and I have always hated cell phones. I hated them when they first came out, I hate them now, and I will always hate them into the future. I hate the expectation that I should be available all of the time, and I haven't owned one for about a decade.
With that out of the way ...
I was at a (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner last night. My friend had prepared a very nice dinner for all of us, and a few people brought their own offerings. They were all from a political group that is active on a local campus, so a couple of the people that attended were pretty young.
They spent about half the night staring into their cell phones, at the dinner table where our host had spent hours preparing a nice meal for all of us.
Is this considered "normal" now? I was always under the impression that cell phones should not be used at the dinner table, let alone at a fucking Thanksgiving meal. This is not behaviour that I would allow from my child let alone a fully grown adult.
Am I just old now, and is this now acceptable? Am I just being an old curmudgeon?
I understand the frustration. In more settings that are more formal I do try to keep from taking my phone out, but if I"m out with some family, I don't care if they whip it out, se see each other relatively frequently anyway that checking something or playing a game while waiting isn't the worst thing. Usually just bringing up a conversation they can partake in is effective enough at keeping them engaged.
Now shit like air pods are annoying. At work in healthcare I see nurses and CNAs wearing them and it actually bugs me. People talking on the phone with someone as they're doing patient care, listening to music, holding conversations in the common areas where it's very easy to confuse it for them trying to talk to you. It's a patient safety issue if you're listening to music and can't hear someone calling for help, and it comes off as just exceptionally rude, especially to 70+ year olds if you're on the phone with your significant other or friends as you're in their room helping them wash up.
my family has a mkae fun off the person on the phone rule and after people stopped it really did liven up family gatherings. being on your phone while talking to someone results in disinterested and flat conversation at best
Things are different with family, but I couldn't imagine having even a close friend where I felt like I had to fight for their attention like this at mutual gatherings
E: But then I suppose they shouldn't be in a spot where they felt like the ongoing conversation was totally excluding them anyway, so I'm not sure I can be even a little mad at your comment
I'm sub thirty and the always-in airpods annoy the hell out of me. I'm used to a time when you leave someone alone if they're listening to music unless its important, now people come up to you with earbuds in, how can I tell they can actually hear me?
If you're not actively listening to music, just pull them out.