Smart Phones

The waitress showed them to their table and the baby in his car seat was put on a chair. The waitress smiled at their two-year-old and handed him a coloring page and two crayons. The little boy colored occasionally as the evening marched on. The waitress came and went at intervals as they ordered and ate... But this is what I saw.
He took a phone out of his pocket and set it on the table before he sat down. She ordered and then discreetly answered a text while her husband decided what he and their son would eat. His phone vibrated quietly against a water glass just as the waitress brought their food; his wife reached across the table to their little boy and moved the paper and crayons so there was room for his food. The waitress was out of earshot when he looked up to thank her. She didn’t hear him. Later on, the baby fussed so his mom fixed him a bottle of formula and held it in his mouth. Her phone vibrated again; she picked it up while still feeding the baby with her other hand.

 

The family didn’t have one conversation all evening.

 

She didn’t look her baby in the eye.

 

He didn’t smile at his son once.

And we pretend not to understand why that couple has a 50% chance of divorce and those precious little boys a 40% chance of trying drugs in high school.


~sigh~