Phones down!

It was early Sunday morning, as I walked into the coffee shop I noticed that it was a bit empty, maybe like one or two other tables were taken. As soon as I turn to the menu Linda walks over to say hello, as we’re catching up I notice that a family of four (mom, dad, and two sons, about 13 or 14 years old) walks in. Seeing that the coffee shop is kind of empty I decided to observe them for the day. Before they all picked up a menu I noticed that both sons took their phones out of their pockets and put them on the table, their mother looks over at both of them and gives them a certain look. I was a bit amazed, was that their family deal? No phones while eating? For a few minutes they are all looking over the menu, Linda then walks over to take their order. I heard them laugh and joke around with her, as she walks away I start to wonder about the phones.

At this point no one in the family has touched their phones; instead they’re all having a conversation and laughing. Linda then walks over to see if everything is ok, since Linda was able to get a closer look at the family and actually talk to them I asked her if she knew what the deal with the phones was about. She then replied, “I noticed that too, I was wondering why their phones were on the table facing down! The mom said that the boys couldn’t use their phones while being with them if they wanted to go out with their friends on the weekend, that it was a way of earning their privileges to go out while spending actual quality time with their parents!”

As Linda walked away I stared at the family, I thought it was pretty cool how their parents thought of that! It was a fair deal, the parents wanted to actually spend time with their kids, talk to them and have real conversations with them! Now a day’s everyone is all into social medias, we rarely pay attention to the people around us, so for them think of that as a way for their children to earn their privileges truly amazed me. About twenty minutes pass by and the family seems to be enjoying their time together, they are all laughing and having a good time.