Walking With Telephones

~ beetleypete

This is not a repeat of my walking post the other day, it’s a different one.

Yesterday, it was a little cooler, and there was a (very) slight breeze which made walking more comfortable. I set out at 1pm, and did much the same walk I had written about previously. There were few other people around. I only saw five other adults, and two children. One young woman was walking a dog, but that was it.

That walk was different from the other day. This time, I concentrated more on the damselflies for longer, realising they have a definite pattern in their behaviour. The skimming over the river followed by the resting on a leaf takes a little over ten seconds, so they do that almost six times a minute, in the same unchanged pattern. They are not hive insects like bees, nor colony insects like ants. Yet despite being individuals, they stick together in so many ways, repeating that pattern constantly.

All except for one solitary damselfly, which remained on a nettle leaf about four feet from the bench I was sitting on. That one didn’t move at all. So I speculated that it might have hatched earlier, and now be approaching the end of its short insect life-cycle. No longer needing to exert itself unduly.

Not unlike the man sitting watching it.

The other thing that I noticed yesterday was that all the adults I saw were looking at their mobile phones as they walked along. One shirtless man on the riverbank path checked his constantly without looking around or where he was going, and the devices in his ears suggested to me that he was expecting (or hoping for) a call. Other walkers were glued to their phones, their thumbs flicking as they scrolled up and down their screens.

They didn’t notice the damselflies, or stop to appreciate the movement of the water in the river. They couldn’t hear the birdsong because of their earpieces, and whatever was on those tiny screens was more important to them than the nature surrounding them.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think they all got it wrong. Totally wrong.

They might just as well have stayed at home.

49 thoughts on “Walking With Telephones”

  3. I can go anywhere without my phone, but I have to admit I’m addicted to my computer. Still, I always make time to get out into nature and appreciate the beauty around us.

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    1. I have one, but mainly because the AA now uses the Internet to confirm your location and give updates on arrival times. So more or less just for car breakdowns in my case. And I have the cheapest contract I could get, £19 a month.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. Hardly anyone is paying attention to the world, too busy with their “digital lives.” Can;t believe I heard that in a commercial the other day for some product that somehow enhances “your digital lives.” And it’s so true. There are few real-lifers left.

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      1. I’ve been told I should take my phone on the walk in case of some sort of emergency. The only time I needed it was years ago when I discovered a man hanging from the bridge over the creek in a nearby park. Other than that other walkers will broadcast the presence of anything untoward from bobcats to maintenance crews to downed trees. If I fall and can’t get up hopefully someone will see me😎

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  10. Could not agree more Pete and I think it is tragic. Everyone needs to switch off from that device at some point, certainly when outdoors, certainly when Nature may be observed. I always think too, that people walking around in a city should have their wits about them. I would have enjoyed watching the damselflies with you.

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  13. People do need to have more balance. Too much time on the phone is unnecessary, and you are going to miss the beauty around you. I think this is probably why I never take photographs or write blog post about the museums I visit, or the zoos etc. And why I couldn’t be a travel blogger as much I enjoy reading those. I’m just too busy living in the moment. There is a time and place for everything. I don’t have the patient to document things and be on my phone when I’m trying to enjoy the here and now.

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  18. I agree entirely about people constantly on mobiles, Pete, but we are of a similar generation. Aside from the existential question, I don’t know how they can read that small screen in bright daylight: even with the brightness cranked up to full [which runs down the battery very quickly] I struggle. Like you, I enjoy the natural sights & sounds when I’m out & about. We had beautiful weather yesterday afternoon, so I had a longer walk, about 4 miles, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheers, Jon.

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  19. You’re so right, Pete. We don’t just sit and stare nearly often enough. I don’t look at my phone while walking but I still pick it up far too often.

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    1. I only take my phone out when I am in the car, in case of breakdown or other emergency. I never take it on walks, and only look at it if it rings or sounds a message alert.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  20. Couldn’t agree more. Many are stooping down to the level of Gen Z Zombies. When I beat Sunak in the upcoming elections I will turn off all cell phone towers each Sunday.

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