Attending a class last week, a girl distracted me from the lesson in a way you wouldn’t expect from a 23-year-old woman. She was using her excessively large tablet phone to surf the Internet (hidden cleverly behind her equally excessive handbag). I had been enjoying the lesson I paid for, but pictures of food and landscapes and pretty women in makeup are hard to ignore as they scroll past.

This struck me as rude on so many levels; it was rude to me, to the professor, to the student herself and everyone in the class. So many people find this habit excusable that it has become OK to disappear in mid-conversation. This scene should be familiar: friend A is talking to friend B when B decides to completely interrupt A by looking at their phone to laugh at C’s text.

It’s ridiculous to watch whole groups of friends sitting in circles, each with a phone in their hand as they add hashtags to get strangers to like what they’re doing. Maybe I’m just not tech-inclined, but I really appreciate the value of face time (and I don’t mean the app). Texting and status updating about your current activities devalues each one of those experiences by taking you out of them temporarily. Plus, it’s just not fun to be around someone who is sucked into their own cyber realm.

Outside of class, phones can get even more irritating. Anyone who has worked in retail knows the frustration that comes with helping a customer who won’t get off their phone. I work at a concert venue, and the amount of people who watch the entire show through the screen of their iPhone makes me wonder why people leave their house at all.

At restaurants, I find myself sadly giggling in misanthropy. I lose faith in my generation as I watch couples eat in silence broken occasionally by buzzing. How can anyone be so rude as to talk to someone else during the entirety of their own date?

Devote time and attention to the things that are important to you, and don’t let anything distract you. Phones can be nice to have, but usually they’re a combination of Tamagotchi (a handheld digital pet, ) and camera. These entertaining features will keep you from paying attention in class and to your friends and family. When you ignore those important things in order to Instagram or Tweet, you’re really ignoring yourself and your own opportunities in life. I can’t jump in the mosh pit at a rock concert if I’m standing there typing. I guess what I’m really saying is PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY!