"If you just walk down the street, it seems hard to imagine that the generations before us survived without cell phones, let alone smartphones. Everywhere you go, on sidewalks, in crosswalks and in cars, at dinner parties and in restaurants and cafes, in work meetings, at the gym and at playgrounds, people are engrossed in their phones, talking, emailing, texting, “checking in,” and tweeting and Facebooking the moment. But these people are missing the real moment. They are so engaged with their phones that they are missing out on important time with their families, friends, and the community. When one of my Facebook friends posted that she was in line for ice cream and the kids were driving her crazy, my first thought was that if she were paying attention to them instead of Facebooking, they probably wouldn’t be acting out. My kids go bonkers when I start saying, “Uh huh, uh huh” because I have my nose buried in my phone. They know it is a free pass. But they also hate it because they know I’m not paying attention when they are talking."