Last weekend I was in a bar with my friends. We were sitting at a table in the center of the room, and during gaps in our conversation I studied people at other tables. The bar was full that night, and the staff were very busy taking orders and bringing drinks to each table. 上個周末我跟我的朋友去一家酒吧. 我們坐在中間的桌子聊天. 聊天的空檔我看其他桌的客人在做什麼. 當晚酒吧客滿, 工作人員忙著幫客人點單及送飲料.
The first thing I noticed about the other patrons was that none of them were talking. They were all staring down at their phones. On some of the phones I could see Facebook. On other phones Line. Occasionally the person holding the phone would lift it up to take a picture of himself (or herself), and then it was back to staring at their phone. 我最先注意到的是旁邊的客人都沒有講話. 他們都在看手機. 在有的手機上我看到臉書. 有的手機上看到的是Line. 不時地有人把手機拿出來拍自己, 然後繼續看手機.
And that night wasn't the first time I saw this. Just a few months ago I was in another local bar, this one divided into a "bar" section and a "dance" section. My friends and I, noticing that the "dance" section was packed with people, decided to sit there for a while. To our surprise it was exactly the same. No one was talking. Everyone was looking down at their phones. Occasionally a phone would come up, and someone would take another selfie. 那個晚上不是我第一次看到這種情形. 幾個月前我在另一家酒吧. 那家酒吧分成兩邊, 一邊是酒吧, 另一邊是可以跳舞的地方. 我們看到跳舞的區塊坐了很多人就過去那邊坐一下. 讓我們驚訝的是那裡的客人都在看手機. 沒有人講話. 他們都忙著看手機. 有時會看到手機被舉高, 因為它的主人要自拍.
Perhaps I notice this more because I don't own a smartphone. I still use the old style phone, the kind without Internet access. This is partly because I am too lazy to change it. This is also because I'd rather be experiencing real things, in real time. I don't want to feel like I'm connected to the Internet every second. I don't want to hear my phone beeping every time a Facebook friend updates their status. It just doesn't seem necessary to me. 可能我比較注意這件事是因為我沒有智慧型手機. 我還是在用舊型的無法上網的手機 . 我沒有智慧型手機的原因是因為我懶的換. 沒換手機的原因是我想要真實的生活經驗. 我不想時常被網路影響, 也不要一直聽到朋友們在臉書上更新消息的嗶嗶聲. 我覺得這樣的功能不是必要的.
Sure, you could own a smartphone and exercise self-control. You could turn it off before entering a social situation, or just not pay any attention to it. But I haven't seen a lot of smartphone owners with this ability. More often I see people staring at their phones at the most inappropriate (or even dangerous) times. 當然你可以擁有智慧型手機並且練習自我控制使用手機的時間. 可以在與朋友聊天前關掉手機或是不理它. 可是我還沒看過很多人這麼做. 我常看到的是許多人在最不適當的時候或是最危險的時候用手機.
And when I think back to that night at the bar, I can remember an actual conversation, with actual people, who were actually there. What about the other people in the bar that night? Well, perhaps they had some meaningful conversations on Line. Perhaps they found out what movies are playing. But wouldn't a real conversation, in a real place, have been better? 當我回想在酒吧的那個晚上, 我記得實際的對話內容跟當天一起的朋友. 那看手機的客人呢? 可能他們記得Line的對話. 可能他們知道電影院正播什麼電影. 可是實際的談話不是比較好嗎? 在真實存在的地方活動不是最好的選擇嗎?
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