13/08/2014

Tiny steps - enjoying the metro ride

How often are you checking your mobile phone with one eye, while using the other on what you're supposed to be doing? I do it all the time. And - I have noticed that it's getting worse. During the summer holiday, I have been checking Facebook and my email far more often than is really necessary (or healthy...) for anyone.

This especially happens when I'm waiting for the metro, or riding it. Riding the metro from my home to the city centre takes only fifteen minutes, and the ride to my son's kindergarten is only four. Perfect for checking email and catching up on what's going on, right?

The only problem is - I'm missing the ride. The views of the valley outside the windows. The flickering lights in the tunnels. The other people sharing the ride with me.

My son, Little A, knows how to appreciate a good metro ride. He shrieks with pleasure at the opening and closing doors, lets out a bubbling laugh at the sight of people with wheelie bags, and thoroughly enjoys the darkness of the tunnels. Shouldn't I be enjoying all of this with him?

When he was younger, I did. But then it all got repetitive and, frankly, I got a bit tired. Had he been able to have a conversation about the metro, it might have been different, but his vocabulary of words and signs is limited.

Today, though, I put away the phone. And for five minutes on the metro, I crouched down next to his stroller, and saw the metro from his point of view: The doors open with a beep, and people come rushing in from all sides! The doors close with a thud! The metro train swooshes through the tunnels! I looked into his face and he was smiling, laughing, enjoying the ride. He pointed out to me that the tunnels are dark. That the doors say bang. That the people with wheelie bags are going to fly on a plane.

If I put away the phone while I'm on the metro (or any type of public transportation, really), I get to:

  • Join in Little A's world
  • Take a few minutes to do nothing
  • Let my thoughts wander
  • See the people around me (at least the faces that are not lost in their phones)
  • Read a book (if I'm taking the metro alone, that is)
There are many other things that could be said about smart phones and what they do to us, but I will get back to that later. These are tiny steps, so let's keep them small and easy:

  • I will not be doing random stuff on the internet while riding public transportation. 
I'll let you know how it goes!

What about you? Are you constantly checking your phone to see what's going on? Or do you know someone who loves the metro as much as my kid does? Let us know in the comments below!

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