I think it’s important to contextualize cell phone usage. While I totally agree with the author that using phones in social situations is rude and distracting, I like to compare it to reading a book or newspaper. It would be rude to pick up a book in the middle of a conversation. Likewise with a phone. I think it would be easy for someone to extend that and say “everyone is on their phones all the time, just today I was on the subway and everyone was on their phone”. Well in the 1950s everyone was probably reading a newspaper. Same difference. so phone usage prevalancy is only disturbing to me in situations like the op describes.
