Walked into a diner in Pittsburgh and noticed nobody was reading the menu

I was at a breakfast joint in the Strip District last Saturday around 9 AM. Every single person over 40 was just staring at their phone while waiting for food. But the weird part was the younger crowd, kids in their early 20s, they were actually flipping through the paper menu and talking to each other. Made me realize how much we blame younger generations for being glued to screens, but in my experience it's the older folks who can't put them down. The waitress even joked that the seniors get mad if she doesn't bring their coffee and their phone at the same time. Have you noticed this shift where the boomers are actually worse with tech addiction than their grandkids?

2 comments

2 Comments

susanb345d ago

Oh man, @grays13 you nailed it with that dad comment because my mother in law is exactly the same way! She will literally hold up her phone to take a picture of her pancakes before she even lets anyone touch the syrup. But here's the thing, I was at that same diner last week and saw this old dude watching YouTube videos at full volume while his wife just sat there looking out the window. Makes you wonder if this whole phone obsession is really about the technology or if some people just forgot how to be present in a room with other humans.

grays135d ago

Man that waitress joke about bringing the phone with the coffee hit me right in the gut because my dad does the exact same thing. He'll be scrolling Facebook at the table while his eggs get cold and then complain the food isnt hot enough. Its funny how everyone talks about kids and their screens but I see way more gray hairs buried in their phones at restaurants than anyone under 30. Maybe the younger crowd is just over it by now or maybe they actually remember what it was like to talk to people face to face. Either way I'll take the kid who reads the paper menu over the boomer who needs their phone to feel alive any day.