# How impatient are you with idle time re: smartphone use **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812 "2016-06-30T18:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/21 "2016-07-01T17:30:59Z")
> [@Me\_Billy](#): > > Actually us older folks consider it rude for someone to sit there using a cell phone and not say a word to anyone else! I’ve had people come over to my house and do that. They go to bars and do that. Can’t they just stay home and “text”? I understand that it’s rude if you’re _already_ having a conversation, but if I’m standing in line at the post office, talking to no one and having no interaction with the people in line around me, who am I being rude to if I take out my phone? Similarly, if I’m sitting by myself in a restaurant or at a bar, is it any ruder to be looking at my phone than it is to be reading a book? I totally get that carrying on a forty-five minute text conversation with someone while having dinner with someone else is rude. I’m not saying it’s not. I just think that the lady next to me in the waiting room at the DMV would rather not hold a conversation with me if she didn’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/22 "2016-07-01T17:55:42Z")
About 30 seconds or so-probably before I even sit down. I, too, remember the era before smartphones and I do not miss it, at all. I like random people not trying to talk to me. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/23 "2016-07-02T00:09:02Z")
This is the most frightening development I think I’ve ever seen (and, yes, I AM OLD). I have no idea how many FB/Twitter/Email “Notifications” you get, but to feel compelled to check every 5 minutes? What is your position in the world that requires you to get “News” updates every 5 minutes? The POTUS gets a report every morning. Is your position more critical than his? I played with the idea of a poll to see how many would accept (for themselves and/or newborns) a skull implant which would run on neural power and connect to the Web. With both a GPS receiver adding lat/long to the continuous date/time feed. It would also be connected to your Optic Nerves and transmit everything (and every thing) you see. But you could check news/FB/Twitter - the whole WWW with just thoughts. But I decided the percentage of “Hell Yes!!!” would be even more depressing than this… ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/24 "2016-07-02T00:33:56Z")
This thread is a perfect mash up of “Get off my lawn!” and “Stupid Luddite!” Anyway, my phone stays up if there’s a possibility of conversation with anyone. Hell, even when others have theirs out, I’d rather talk. But if I’m only amusing myself, than as soon as I realize that. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/25 "2016-07-02T00:49:00Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > This is the most frightening development I think I’ve ever seen (and, yes, I AM OLD). > > I have no idea how many FB/Twitter/Email “Notifications” you get, but to feel compelled to check every 5 minutes? > What is your position in the world that requires you to get “News” updates every 5 minutes? > The POTUS gets a report every morning. Is your position more critical than his? Huh? The question is about idle time spent waiting on something. Browsing my phone is just a way, sometimes semi-productively, of whiling away a few minutes. Certainly beats reading ancient copies of Woman’s Day in the dentist waiting room or staring at the walls at the DMV. If you see someone reading a book at the doctors, do you huff “Are you some important movie producer or playwright that you need to read stories?” or do you understand that it’s just a pleasant diversion while they wait? Because there’s a good chance that the person trapped in the Orwellian horror of looking at their phone is… reading a book. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/26 "2016-07-02T01:26:19Z")
Some of the people in this thread seem to think that the only things you do on a phone are look at Facebook or text. Why is it ok to read a book while waiting in line, but not to read this message board on a phone? Why are you wasting your time reading a book anyway? Apparently you are supposed to sit quietly doing nothing when waiting for something. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/27 "2016-07-02T01:39:15Z")
Just because you’re sitting quietly not staring at a phone doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything. I mentally balance my checkbook, make plans, and have composed entire reports in my head while waiting. I find it kind of odd that people can’t manage to get through a whole minute without required some kind of external stimulation. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/28 "2016-07-02T01:45:15Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > Just because you’re sitting quietly not staring at a phone doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything. I mentally balance my checkbook, make plans, and have composed entire reports in my head while waiting. That’s fine, I promise not to judge you for it because I guess I don’t care what other people quietly do while sitting around. > [@](#): > > I find it kind of odd that people can’t manage to get through a whole minute without required some kind of external stimulation. On the other hand, some people are FAR too interested in judging what others do while sitting quietly. Which I suppose is something you can do when not on your phone: sit and mentally sniff derisively at everyone else who isn’t as evolved as you are. Thoughts From a Waiting Room Person A: “Let me respond to this email real quick…” Person B: “Oh, Karen has vacation pics posted…” Person C: “New polling from Wisconsin? Neat…” Person D: “This novel is pretty awesome. Let me buy the rest of the series.” Person E: “Look at those people wasting their lives on their phones. They’ll never know the quiet pleasure in sitting and silently judging others. I wonder why they don’t want to have a _‘conversation’_ with me. Probably because they don’t even know what one is, they’re so pathetic…” ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/29 "2016-07-02T04:07:04Z")
See, I have the best of both worlds. I judge people around me and inform my friends via text. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/30 "2016-07-02T07:45:15Z")
I’m very much more likely to pull out my kindle than my phone. Still, that’s under 5 minutes. > [@spamforbrains](#): > > Just because you’re sitting quietly not staring at a phone doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything. I mentally balance my checkbook, make plans, and have composed entire reports in my head while waiting. > I find it kind of odd that people can’t manage to get through a whole minute without required some kind of external stimulation. I find it a little odd to mentally compose reports or balance a checkbook when we now have the tech that would allow actually composing those reports and balancing the checkbook on a smartphone. Is it more satisfying to do those things twice (once mentally in public and then for real in private) rather than just doing it once? Especially w.r.t. the checkbook - I would assume that having the transactions in real time would be much more accurate than remembered numbers. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/31 "2016-07-02T08:01:10Z")
This is a generational difference I’m sure. For me I’m pretty much on my phone as soon as I sit down at a place. For one, I really don’t like talking to people unless they are close friends or for business. Secondly, the time that I spend waiting can be doing something more productive. Time is worth more than ever these days and every minute spent wasted is a loss of productivity. There’s nothing wrong with just patiently waiting and daydreaming though. I’ve certainly done it before myself when my phone is dead. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/32 "2016-07-02T08:07:15Z")
I have a smartphone but I’m not terribly smart, so I use it to make calls, receive calls and take pics on occasion. Idle time? I do crosswords, sudokos or target-word puzzles. Yes, I’m boring, sue me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812/33 "2016-07-02T13:01:28Z")
If I know the wait will be over 5 minutes, I’ll usually break out the phone or the kindle. Sooner if I’m expecting/hoping for an email or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-impatient-are-you-with-idle-time-re-smartphone-use/758812.md?page=1)