It's the pet peeve of the 21st century. You're out with a friend or colleague and they keep clutching their phone to check out a text or tweet while you're in the thralls of a perfectly good conversation.
Now that irksome habit has a name: phubbing. Inappropriate use of devices at inappropriate times and venues, such as weddings and other social settings. Snubbing via cellphone.
According to an article in the Guardian, anti-phubbing is already something of a movement, coined last month by 23-year-old Alex Haigh from Melbourne.
If phubbing gets your goat, then get involved. Download some "Stop Phubbing" posters to distribute to your favourite restaurants and haunts. You can even "Shame a Phubber" within your own social circle by "uploading an incriminating photograph to the site." And you can visit the gallery to see which celebs are notorious phubbers.
OK, so the site isn't the most serious political movement. But behind the joke is a credible message: be considerate and cognizant of your fellow human beings. Yes, even if that means not answering your phone at times like these...
Is phubbing bothersome or an inevitable sign of the times?
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