jdbphotoNo Longer in the Present
Seated around the table in our favorite cafe,
attention to each other has come to be passé
We are not present here and now. We’re all in other places
as we stare at tiny screens, intent on other faces.
The friends we have around us will simply have to wait
for our interest in the world-at-large to finally abate.
The news that’s happening elsewhere is simply more amusing
than what might be happening in this space our body’s using.
Other friends are funnier in their “selfie” poses—
pooching out their lips at us and scrunching up their noses.
It won’t do to look natural, we have to look unique
in the selfsame pose that all selfie-flashers seek.
So if your friends are boring, not half so chic as you,
you always have the option to make a Tweet or two.
Check out the latest fashions available from China.
They’ll only take three months to reach you here in Carolina.
Check out the weather in Tibet and give YouTube a glance.
Companions won’t distract you if you don’t give them a chance.
Living one life at a time no longer has to do
so long as you remember to have your phone with you!
So if you’ve dropped a French fry and spilled ketchup down your dress,
you needn’t be embarrassed. It couldn’t matter less.
Intent on Twitter, Instagram, Facetiming and Facebooking,
the friends with you won’t notice, for nobody is looking.
The prompt word is present.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
I’ve often had a feeling that a couple sitting at a table busily I-phoning are actually texting each at each other as they do not know any other way to communicate. When they want to look at each other, they use Snapchat. Delightful poem, Judy, but I find it sad, rather than funny.
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Me, too.
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😻
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It kind of limits dinnertime conversation!
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There really are times when the smart phones should be set aside, or even turned off!
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Oh that they were smart enough to know when to turn themselves off..or that we were.
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I loved it! Well said.
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Thanks, Ellen.
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I do like that. Food does have a tendency to find my verandah.
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Someone once told me that they have a dinner rule with friends or family when out at a restaurant – first one to pick up their phone also picks up the bill!
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Yes. I’ve heard of this rule before.
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It couldn’t be said better!
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So true. I catch myself and try to be in the present more.
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