In our stars, or in ourselves?

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene ii

Today I got a smartphone. It's only the second I've ever owned, and the first, a Motorola Droid, I owned for less than 30 days, and went back to my coffin phone, a Nokia 3*** series that has served me incredibly well. With the upcoming bike tour, though, I really wanted on the go GPS and google maps, and the HTC Incredible came out at just the right time. So far, I'm extremely happy with it, excepting the mediocre battery life.

Yeah, yeah: what the hell does this have to do with Shakespeare?

Well, I don't know if the fault is in our smartphones (our stars), or the human condition (ourselves) but I wonder if smartphones are the death of human civility. Sure, for a while there it was people screaming into their phones on the bus, on the subway, on sidewalks, in meetings. Slowly, though, people are realizing that just isn't socially acceptable.

What hasn't seeped in yet is that clicking away nonstop on your blackberryiphonedroidwhatever in a public setting just isn't acceptable. Especially if you're a board member. In a board meeting.

Last night I went to the NPU-E meeting, and a member of the board literally sat there the entire meeting when he wasn't talking and looked down at his blackberryiphonedroidwhatever. Now, I'm not talking about furtively checking it when it vibrates, and putting it back in your pocket. or even excusing yourself and stepping away to take a call. No, this person literally played with his device the entire 2.5+ hour meeting, except when he was talking about (the apparently one) issue he cared about. The other guy in the picture was actually listening to the public official talking, to his right.

To be real, NPU meetings aren't exactly barnburners. It's mostly consideration of special event permits, zoning variances, and liquor licenses. Judging from the few I've attended, it's mostly rubber stamping of the neighborhood association decisions, and said rubber stamp is then forwarded on to the appropriate city department.

But really? You want to serve on the board, and have us sit and look at you conference panel style for two to three hours, and all you can do is sit there and play with your blackberryiphonedroidwhatever? Really?