As smartphone cases get bigger, pants pockets get smaller. It’s been some time since I could carry a phone in my front pocket and sit down or pick up something from the floor: when my hip shifts from the vertical position, so does the pocket; and when the pocket shifts, out slides the phone, destination car seat/area rug/sidewalk.
Which can be a real problem in places where constant motion is required and jackets are not an option–as when I volunteer in the “cattery” at the Houston SPCA. Give cats the run of a room, and they’ll explore everything paws-on–including any smartphones removed from pockets and set on counters/shelves/cat trees for “safekeeping.” No high place is safe from those curious jumpers and climbers, as evidenced by the above photo.
In this case, was the cat merely being curious? Was she thoughtless instead, casually walking over what seemed just another piece of human clutter? Or could she possibly have been sending a conscious message? “Phooey on this two-dimensional box. I’m here in real life, and I stake claim to your undivided attention!”
Pets may not know what smartphones are for, but they know when we’re “too busy” for them–and they don’t like being brushed off any more than we do. Are you treating digital news alerts as inviolable while taking your cat or dog for granted? What about your child or significant other? And what about everything around you that’s worth pausing to savor: the flowers in your neighbor’s garden, the cardinal singing from your fence, the sky glowing blue on a fresh clear day?
Digital tools were created to enhance real life, not to replace it. Take all your attention off the screen and enjoy the three-dimensional world in full!
