In Defense of Texting at the Bar
I’m that person and I’m not sorry
Smartphones are the worst, right? They’re addictive, rotting our brains, skewing our memories, and killing the art of casual conversation. As if relying on our phones to fill every idle moment isn’t bad enough, going out in public to stare at a screen — especially at a place like a bar that’s built for socializing — surely signals the decline of our civilization.
Except I do it, and you probably do, too.
I recently spent an entire evening at my neighborhood bar, carrying on five text conversations simultaneously while drinking frosty margaritas in IRL silence. And though at first I felt a bit sheepish about how much I enjoyed that date with my mobile device, I’ve decided it’s not a bad thing.
What often goes ignored in all the hand-wringing about our digital obsession is that smartphones can make us more comfortable being alone out in the world. And that’s a good thing, conferring benefits we don’t necessarily get from being alone in our own homes. People may draw energy from a bustling setting or find comfort or relaxation in people-watching. A paper in the journal Health and Place found that people often seek out public spaces to be alone, such as a shopping mall, a cemetery, or a quiet street, where they can reflect and “escape from the pressures of…
