Member-only story
Doctor’s Office Reflections
How our Devices became our Vices
So, there I was, sitting in the dental office early one morning, waiting to be called in. The Today Show was murmuring on the TV mounted in the corner, and I spotted some magazines scattered on the table nearby.
Before I even noticed any of that, I’d already pulled out my phone and started scrolling.
You know how it is, it’s playoff time, so of course I’m checking all the box scores. Then I’m sifting through emails, skimming some Apple News articles, and doing that mindless thumb-scroll we all do when we have a few minutes to kill.
But then I caught myself and looked around the waiting room. Those magazines sitting there, untouched, made me feel nostalgic.
Remember when waiting meant actually… waiting? When you flip through whatever Time or People magazine was available, hoping to find one you hadn’t already read during your last visit?
Today, those magazines might as well be rotary phones at an Apple store, a relic from a time when waiting forced us into a kind of stillness, when we had to practice patience instead of just getting a Genesis-style thumb workout.
