Read unPHILtered: The Way I See It for Free Online Page B

feel rich?” Her answer was: “Phil, we were content when were poor, so we won’t ever feel rich.” She was right.
    Save your money, buy only what you need, give generously, and, most important, prepare yourself for God’s inheritance.

4

SOCIAL MEDIA
Fix No. 4: Mind Your Own Business
    A recent study by International Data Corporation revealed that 50 percent of the American population uses some sort of smartphone. Now, I’ve never owned a cell phone and, rest assured, I never will. But from what I’ve seen over the last several years, smartphones only seem to make their users dumber. I laugh every time I see someone struggling to carry shopping bags and an umbrella through a parking lot on a rainy day while holding a cell phone to his ear. Hang up the phone, you idiot! You wouldn’t believe how many times my sons Willie and Jep have dropped their iPhones in the water while we’re duck hunting. Okay, tell me again exactly why you needed them in the duck blind. Were you going to call the ducks with your cell phones? It seems, from my vantage point, that most people spend a lot of time trying to find their cell phone!
    Americans need to get off their cell phones—my sons included. Contrary to what you’re thinking, you can live without them. I promise you can operate and function without them. I don’t have one. You don’t have to have one, either. And while you’re at it, get off your desktop computer, laptop, iPad, tablet, reader, and whatever other mobile devices you own. I’ve never figured out how the computer, the very device that was supposed to revolutionize the way we live and save us so much time, ended up occupying so much of our time. Americans can’t stay off them!
    The IDC study revealed some alarming facts about Americans. Did you know that 79 percent of smartphone users reach for their devices within fifteen minutes of waking up? A majority of them—62 percent—don’t even wait fifteen minutes! I have an idea: why don’t you grab a Bible and read, or lie there in bed and pray or meditate for a few quiet moments? Hey, news flash, folks: I promise you it’s the only quiet time you’re probably going to get in this busy, busy world. Why don’t you take advantage of a few moments of solitude and slow down, Jack?
    I’m convinced that the Internet and social media in particular, the very things that were supposed to bring us closer together, have actually distanced us from each other more than ever before. They’re destroying the social interaction among humans. We don’t talk to anybody anymore, and we’ve isolated ourselves, spending most of our time in front of a computer or tapping the screens of our smartphones and tablets. We’ve become robots. In1950, less than 10 percent of American households contained only one person. By 2012, almost 27 percent of households were a single person. Who needs a spouse or roommate when you have five hundred friends on Facebook or one thousand followers on Twitter? I don’t get it.
    And don’t even get me started about online dating. Did you know there are actual online dating sites for ugly people, people who like to ride horses, people who like cats, people who dress up like clowns, adults who love to wear diapers, and people with food allergies? I’m not kidding! Hey, I realize there’s probably someone out there for everybody—look at my brother Si for goodness’ sake—but don’t you think there’s a better way to meet Mr. or Mrs. Right than by exchanging a few e-mails? Can’t you meet a woman or man in church or school? How do you really know they’re the one if you’ve never watched them pluck feathers from a duck or clean fish? Don’t you at least need to know what they smell like? You really need to get to know a man or woman face-to-face, because it has been my observation that if people are mean, they get a lot meaner after they’re married. Trust me, you’re going to need more than a cell phone or computer to discover that part