My sainted wife and I regularly
watch police-oriented reality shows. I won’t go through the list
because it is extensive, but we enjoy a select few that prove to be
both entertaining and informative, the reasons we tune-in.
Invariably, during an apprehension, a crowd of non-involved civilians in the form of nosy neighbors and friends and family gather to collect video evidence for later legal actions.
Desperately trying to “help” the ‘victim’ of the police action at-hand, these voyeurs-with-cell phones look like mindless examples of extortion. Of course, if an arrest goes awry, it’s conveniently memorialized for the upcoming court trial and/or guaranteed settlement.
Switching gears to other public activities, protests, lootings, riots, car wrecks, picket lines, fires, inclement weather, and simple family outings and gatherings, are all moments saved and ready for sharing when attempting to provide future entertainment or simply acquire “likes” on all-important social media.
Attending sporting events is amazing to me inasmuch as row upon row of spectators swing their cellphones around in an effort to capture a ball player engaging a fastball, or a diving catch being made by a wide receiver who appears to float across the goal line for a touchdown.
But it’s the avid fans who spend tons of money to attend music concerts that truly amaze me, and where today’s adventure begins.
As previously mentioned, cellphones have become the king of media, summarily replacing video cameras – camcorders – as means of permanently securing memories.
Remember those office retirements, or post-office-game parties, or even end-of-life celebrations, where dusty slides, photos, and scripted stories were offered to recall special times about the honorees? Now we’re regularly exposed to cellphone recaps of any- and everything.
Concert-goers seem to be the most enamored by recording each second of every day, just in case…
Spending seemingly countless dollars on tickets to hear their favorite song performed by their favorite band or artist quickly morphs into a sea of cellphones recording that rare, special concert for, uh, what?
I’ve seen cellphone videos of
Uncle Bob water skiing, Aunt Barbara taking a spill from a motor
scooter, and neighbor Tom falling off his ladder while installing new
windows in his house; most of those videos are simply horrible. 
Selfie with a grin - maybe
A cross between not being close enough to recognize the subject, or the videographer shaking to the point of mimicking an 8.8 magnitude earthquake, only detracts from the intended gist of making these recordings in the first place.
While the videographer poses with their phone during the video playback – wearing a stupid, self-congratulating grin – the viewer is left wondering “why” did you bother?
Instead of watching the concert, or enjoying the game, or help rescuing the fire victims in the video, too often do these captured moments demonstrate an extraordinary waste of time and effort.
As an aside, I have a neighbor who is very nice. Unfortunately, I am unable to identify her because after four years of living in close proximity to me my sainted wife, I have yet to see her face due to her incessant cellphone use.
Rescue the dog on the highway, help the victim trapped in a car crash, find and use a hose to extinguish that brush fire – rather than videoing disasters to stroke your own egos.
To sum this up, I beseech everyone with a hankering to whip out their all-important cellphones – ALWAYS – to restrain themselves and perhaps inject their efforts into being part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
