Don’t Like - Parents On Their Phones With Their Kids

Last weekend I was out having brunch with my girlfriend and a friend from out of town. We had a nice time, although there was one moment that distinctly bummed me out. Across the way from us, a father and his young teenage son sat in a booth. The kid looked through the menu while the dad scrolled on his phone. To be clear, he was scrolling. He wasn’t responding to a text or making a phone call to see when their eventual third guest would make it. He had the dead eyed look of someone staring and swiping, lost in his screen and ignoring his son. This is something I’ve surely seen before, but something about this particular moment got me. I couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t talking with his kid, who seemed curious about the menu. Didn’t the dad want to explain what eggs Benedict, huevos rancheros, or loukaniko sausage were? Even if the kid knew the menu, isn’t Sunday brunch the sort of thing you’re supposed to relish having with your kids? I’d like to think so. Of course, I have no idea what this man’s week or morning was like. Maybe this was a well-deserved phone break for him. Likewise, I have no idea what he was looking at on his phone. Maybe it was a long, urgent work-related document he had to tend to. However, I’m pretty sure he was just scrolling. Perhaps it isn’t fair to assume that parents shouldn’t be addicted to their phones when seemingly everyone else is. But as I look forward to that chapter of my life, staying present is the goal I wish to strive for.