Today I ate lunch with my friends at CR and I paid close attention to the overall atmosphere of our meal. I focused mainly on phone usage, body language/eye contact, and our topics of discussion. After discussing many of these things in class, such as phone usage and how it affects our daily lives, I have started to notice many things I didn’t notice before. 

Eating at CR is one of the only times of the day where I can actually sit down, relax, and talk with my friends. I find it to be a time I can chill and have some conversation. However, after paying close attention I noticed how people have such short attention spans. What they say about technology reducing our attention spans is true. I have noticed it everywhere. At lunch, those who were not engaged in our conversation or did not find the topic at hand to be of much interest to them, would have their faces buried in their phones. I even had to catch myself several times reaching for my phone. We dive into our phones and into the world of technology in order to escape, but why is it that we want to escape? Does it have to do with our own generation finding comfort in technology or is it because it’s just a convenient way to escape reality? 

The body language of my friends tells me that they think the same way about our meals. All slouched back in their chairs, it tells me that they are just as relaxed as me and find comfort in our daily meals together. When we speak with each other eye contact is usually shared, unless someone is staring at their phone and trying to have the conversation. Although, in this case the person really is not involved with the conversation at all. 

Besides one of my friends explaining how she revamped her instagram to try and get into the sorority of her choice, we had pleasant conversation. We mostly discussed our classes and how our days were going. We also shared laughs and inside jokes that always brighten our day. I really do enjoy sharing a meal with my friends, but after paying close I noticed the only thing holding us back from enjoying ourselves even more is technology… big surprise. I think my next project would be to suggest we all stay off our phones at lunch and dinner and enjoy a technology free meal. I believe this would provide for an even more comforting and relaxing experience.