Current Issues in Journalism

I wanted to do this assignment when I thought it would be the easiest, all day Sunday during the Chief's game. I started in the morning before tailgating, which initially I had no problem. During the game I had no problem, I was distracted and watching the game, having a good time. As we are on our way home, it became a bigger deal and I felt a need to use my phone.
Feeling like I need to use the cell phone rather than wanting to use it, is a little frightening. Even just looking around you at a football game, where people are usually so absorbed in the game that they don't want to use their phones, there were many people sitting and texting while cheering.
I had to abstain from using my cell phone or the internet last summer when I went to Europe and the initial panic dies down after a couple of days. However, those first couple of days without a cell phone is the same kind of a panic a smoker has without a cigarette. The media is much like a cigarette, I'm discovering, in that it is actually quite addicting. More and more people are multi-taskers and need a lot of stimulation to prevent getting bored. The internet and cell phones provide something for everyone to do at all times whenever they want. Media free is a scary experience, but realizing everyone's addiction is even scarier.