Cell phones: why are we so obsessed?

This week, the production of Little Shop of Horrors opened at the Helfaer Theatre.

Today, while listening to the usual pre-show announcements from backstage, I thought about the extensive pleas for the audience members to not only turn off their cell phones for the duration of the performance, but to refrain from texting so as not to disrupt fellow viewers. Unfortunately, I have seen what happens if such an announcement is not made: people in the audience think they are being discreet, but the bluish glow can be seen by people all around them, including the actors onstage.

I started thinking about how these incredibly challenging and imposing limitations on people would undoubtedly result in a widespread emergence of the cell phone as soon as the house lights go up for intermission. As I am backstage during intermission, there is no way for me to prove it, but having partaken in such a collective act myself many a time at other events, and seeing the scattered glowing blue when the show begins to resume, I find this to be a logical and accurate assumption.

This led me to think about why we are all so obsessed with cell phones. Just a few years ago, we would not have had to make such a lengthy request to audiences asking them for basic etiquette. I'm definitely not trying to be preachy on this one; I'm as guilty of it as everyone else. As much as I judge us for walking around with our hands and eyes glued to our keyboards, I do it, too. When I'm waiting in line for food, I will pull out my smart phone to scan texts, check Facebook, and - my redeeming usage - read the New York Times. I've been annoyed with people walking slowly on the sidewalk and blocking my path due to their attempts to textandwalk, but I'm sure others have been annoyed with me for the same thing.

So what's the deal?

And let's be honest; we cannot continue to issue the refrain of "what is this generation coming to?" because it's not just young people anymore; it's everyone.

When a cell phone goes off in an event like a theatre performance, it more often than not belongs to someone older than 40 who forgot to turn off her or his phone. This semester, I have heard professors' phones sound at least three times and have not heard students' once. Adults are becoming just as quick to whip out their gadgets at intermission.

My question is - why???

The only philosophical answer I could conjure is that we all want to feel important. We all want to feel loved. When someone sends us a text message, that means he or she was thinking of us. We have to respond in a timely matter so as to 1. not inconvenience the other person and have he or she think less of us, and 2. reassure ourselves that our response does indeed matter. People take us seriously.

But most texts do not merit an immediate response, even if we think they do. And we don't ever ask ourselves, if we don't text back right now, what's the worst that can happen? We don't recognize a fundamental value in not communicating for a time, or in actually communicating with the people sitting right next to us instead.

So my challenge to us all is to refrain from reaching for that cell phone this intermission - at least for 30 seconds.