DUBAI DIARIES | Mate...Look Up!

To be honest, I used to use this phrase, "Mate….look up", if I ever caught a male not looking at my face. Whilst that period has amazingly past, I found myself using this phrase again…

This time, it seems to apply to a number of people that are just staring down at their digital devices and not noticing their present lives going by.

Here are a few scenarios which, sadly, amuses me.

1. At bus or metro stations, what happened to everyone looking around and watching the traffic going by? Nope. All heads down. Mate….look up. Your bus is coming.

2. At the restaurant, a husband and wife (well they look like they're married) are staring down at their devices (perhaps updating facebook that they are on a date). Mate…look up. Tell him or her that you're happy to be with them first, not the world.

3. At a grocery store, a mother is busy looking into her device whilst her young child pulls everything off the shelf or cries sitting frustrated on the trolley. Mate….look up. Your baby wants attention.

4. In social occasions, when things go quiet and the conversation has a brief lull, the phones come out to hide the awkwardness. Mate…look up. Think of something else. Use your creativity.

5. I noted my child recently telling me that he was bored and asked for the phone, I told him…"sit by the window and look at the clouds". Mate….look up because you won't get to daydream when you grow older.

We see this again and again, on the streets, crossing the road, in meetings, in church, in social gatherings....no-one seems to be looking up and at each other anymore!

"Mamma!! I call you again and again!" said the second born as I realised that I'd been writing this piece on my device while she finished her potty. Oops Mamma….look up.

Hi, my name is Linda, and I'm also guilty of not-looking-up-aholic.