My Phone Is Off for You popped up in my feed reader today and it reminded me of what my high school band conductor would always say: Be where you are. He’s right of course and I make an effort whenever I’m with someone to put them first and my phone second. Hell, if you’ve been around me for any period of time you’ve probably seen me take my phone out of my pocket, hit the rocker switch to make it stop vibrating, and set it aside. I doubt I’m the only one who finds it annoying when the person you’re talking to is constantly checking their phone and answering texts. Then they lookup from their phone and realize you’ve stopped talking and say “Sorry (but not really)”.

This Gizmodo writer clearly doesn’t get it. It’s not a measure of respect or affection. It’s about being present and–as Mr. Egan put it so succinctly–being where you are. When you can access Facebook and Twitter so effortlessly from your phone, it’s easy to forget where you are and that there are people around you. Disconnecting from the ether is good for you and can actually be quite pleasant (this is one of the reasons I like camping).

I’m not asking you to turn off you’re phone. Not even I do that. But please, don’t check it every thirty minutes like it’s a bomb about to go off.