I donated my blackberry key 2 Le and a nokia 225 to a charity for battered woman. I was going to sell both but then I thought there must be someone that needs a cell phone but cannot afford it. It has been 24 hours since I gave it up and I can tell you I feel 100 times better already. I am currently using the Punkt MP02 till my Mudita pure gets here. Last night I went out to dinner with my wife and I think this is the first time I have ever been to a restaurant without a smartphone. When my wife went to the washroom , i had nothing to do till she returned. This would be the point at which I would pull out my smartphone but it felt so liberating not doing that. I just looked around at the restaurant and I saw almost everyone on their smartphones. I saw one gentleman not on his smartphone and we struck up a conversation about the hockey game on tv. This was such a nice interaction that I would not have had that night if I was staring at my smartphone.
@cardio79 Thanks for sharing this. I find it quite interesting that we’re allowed smartphones to basically handicap our interacting with other individuals. To me, when someone is staring at a screen, it’s a sign that they DO NOT want to be bothered. If someone is just being idle while standing in line, sitting at the bar or a table at a restaurant it’s much easier to connect with them & start a conversation. Humans are social creatures & we thrive on interpersonal interaction. We NEED it to be human. Hiding behind screens is not natural.
Great to hear that! Having a small chat with strangers is so unnatural, yet very needed and inspiring in many ways. In those days it takes a great deal of courage to start one. Nevertheless, thanks for sharing your experience, hope to see more of that in our daily lives.
@pawel_pacewicz I wouldn’t say it’s unnatural. I think it’s inherent to our being. That’s how we connect with people. After all, all our friends & colleagues were strangers once, but we made the first step forward & reached out to make contact.
@cardio79 – I saw a family in a restaurant last night. Nobody in the family was on a cellphone. All but one of them was engaged in conversation at their table. The non-engaged member was a young girl who spent nearly all of her non-eating time reading a book. Although I like to see kids reading books, the parents – to me – missed an opportunity to teach their younger daughter that “in public” time such as dinner in a restaurant is NOT time for reading a book. I suspect that this young girl will grow up believing that it’s okay to be on a smartphone while she is with family or friends in a restaurant … and elsewhere.
@kirkmahoneyphd I recently witnessed something even more concerning at a restaurant. A couple sitting with a child, approx 4-5 years of age, at the table next to ours. Everyone was eating. However, the child, while eating their soup, was staring at an oversized smartphone screen (Probably a Samsung Note+), which was propped up against the table centerpiece. It was really an eyebrow-raising sight. The parents in that situation REALLY missed the opportunity there.
Couldn’t agree more with that. I really like the idea of beginning conversations with strangers, i feel there is nothing wrong with just approaching people in real life. When someone slides into your DMs or starts a conversation on Tinder is not unusual and it’s not a stranger approaching you but if you start a chat at a restaurant or a bar then it’s unnatural or weird?I feel like i have different perception on that. I’ve met many people offline like that and it always ended up with a fun memory and good time or even friendships. What definitely helped was just being off my phone, you actually get to see people around you. I believe we should be equally conscious and open with both online and offline interactions. 
When I was a very small child, my parents kept a small toy car (Lesney “Matchbox” Corgi “Juniors” size) / blank notebook and pen handy for sitting in restaurants. We would periodically “drive” the little car across the table to each other, which kept me occupied if I was getting bored, while simultaneously allowing me to remain aware of my surroundings and interacting with people/talking to my parents. The notebook and pen were because I had a vivid imagination and was always writing stories, so I’d discuss the ideas with my parents or the poor defenseless waiters. As I got a little older I was expected to sit and behave a little more like an adult, and I found this easier than most, thanks to having been encouraged to engage, talk and be present from an early age. I can’t imagine what damage is being done by parents ceasing to be parents and just placing their kids like a zombie in front of a glowing screen, giving them no interaction other than the isolation of that smartphone.
It’s funny, I was sitting in a restaurant a month or so ago, and an older couple was at the adjacent table. Of the whole restaurant, only our two tables were not absorbed in glowing screens. The gentleman smiled and struck up a conversation. Apparently we reminded them of themselves 50 or 60 years previously, as they’d always dressed very flamboyantly and had embraced new age and hippie culture just as it was beginning. They also loved the music they’d overheard us talking about and had always regretted selling a “fantastic” car very much like mine, 40 years ago. The fact neither of us was staring at a screen brought a little bit more joy into the lives of two people, who for that moment, forgot they were arthritic and wrinkly, and were 20 or 30 again.
It is beyond freeing not having a smartphone. I am three days into it and I can honestly say I am already less stressed and just happier. It was literally like a massive weight came off my shoulders. I am even trying to distance myself from my Punkt phone. Even though its a dumb phone I just like not having it near me all the time. Whether its a smartphone or a dumbphone you still need to be mindful of your relationship with it. I just can’t wait for my mudita pure to get here so I can ditch this Punkt phone ! lol. All joking aside its a great phone but I always knew I would get the Mudita pure