Jacqueline M. Ruffino-Platt

We all survived the days before smartphones were invented. Alexander Graham Bell is shaking his head and hopefully looking down on us saying, “I guess I created a monster. “No, I created and invented the telephone.” A smart way to communicate with others is to call someone to say, “Hi, I was thinking of you. Can I help you today? May I come by to visit or bring groceries?” Alexander Graham Bell realized that as the world moved on and progressed in future technology, new inventions were going to be discovered—inventions that will take us into many centuries of communicating.

Do we attempt to prove our intelligence to others with new devices each and every day? Hum, let’s see who is smarter. Can we communicate today without the smartphone? Can we sit down to eat our meals at home with our families? Can we meet with friends, dine out in restaurants, and conduct ourselves properly without annoying others by talking on a smartphone? Can we go to the movies, work at our jobs, go shopping, stand in grocery lines, watch our little ones in the playgrounds, go swimming, and keep our eyes and ears peeled around children for their safety and ours?

And the best one of all … can we drive without our smartphones? These are all good questions.

Smartphones have outstanding capabilities. I know, because I use mine most of the time. Your smartphone can call anyone without using your fingers to dial. Your smartphone can search websites. Search your personal contacts. Takes photos and sends them instantly. Your dashboard in the car also connects a map and directs you to your destination on the screen with voice activation. We can telephone someone, answer telephone calls, send text messages with responses. Did I mention you can do all of the above in your car while driving? How sweet is this? How dangerous is this? How stupid is this? How murderous is this? Our smartphones cause accidents to innocent people, and their demise as well, while out on a beautiful, sunny day with family. The smartphone has been a rather positive invention if used wisely. How sad to let a small, expensive, intelligent component ruin the lives of others and yours because you can’t wait to pull your car to a safe environment and carry out your business. I have witnessed men, women, teenagers, and children walking down the street, crossing a street without lifting their heads and fingers off of this device. The smartphone is my companion, especially when I am lost on the road, running late for a meeting or appointment, need assistance, feeling ill, or to report an accident. Practice due diligence and making the right move by pulling off the road. Use these devices with caution. Love yourself, your family, and others who surround our lives. In today’s world many more inventions will be discovered.

My favorite saying in today’s world of smartphones, cell phones, electronic equipment while driving is, “Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet Him.”