Am I brave enough to trash my smartphone?
A reaction to what happened in Paris on NYE this year
When did we decide that people in our social network are more important than the people next to us, or the present moment? Like many, I was horrified to see the dystopian video of people celebrating the New Year at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris a couple of days ago with their phones out. Instead of making memories and new connections in the moment, tens of thousands of people stood quietly and filmed the changing of the clock on the top of the Parisian monument with their smartphones.
Paris holds a special place in my heart, and it’s not just because of the Haussman architecture- although that’s a big part of it. It’s a place where I first saw people enjoying their lives in a new way. In 2002 when I studied abroad there, we just barely had cell phones. We paid heftily by the texto and so I messaged someone maybe 3 times a day, slowly, letter by excruciating letter on my flip phone. No one was sitting at a cafe working on their laptop. No one was Emily in Paris-ing their way through pain au chocolat, (although I am a repeat watcher of the show for its Pat McGrath fashion and Paris campiness.)
No, the reason I go to Paris, or did, at the risk of sounding too much like SATC’s Carrie in Paris, is because the locals are known for being…
