You're missing your kid's birthday you know that?

[PoliteBoy]

Today in the restaurant, my tolerance for smart devices was being tested (Very long rant ahead).

There was a family of seven celebrating a kid's birthday and I thought it was sweet. That is until the we brought their cake out with a sparkler candle on it.

So I'm following the cake with my eyes and I zip to the table. Guess what I see? The kid's mum and her aunt were filming the whole thing on their damn phones. This is your kid's birthday and you're gonna watch it through a screen instead of watching her smile light up? What is wrong with you? On top of that, it looked a pretty damn expensive cake; how about you actually LOOK at it.

You're probably not even gonna watch it again! You're just gonna put it on Facebook and attract the pedos! We're supposed to live to experience things, not take a picture every 5 seconds!

Ugh, it seems like ever since smartphones came in we're losing our ability to live in the moment and be modest. I'm not much of a narcissist, so I don't get why I have to take a picture of my cake or whatever and shove it into the rest of the faces on my wall (I've done this once in a while, but not every time there's a special occasion). Just live in the moment, it's not living if it's through a screen in low quality video.

[MoonCat]

I agree with this, but then I didn't grow up with cell phones. I still use a cheap Tracfone because to me it's there to make calls, not film every damn thing I see. I really don't get people taking video of something like 4th of July fireworks - wtf? It's so tiny on the screen vs how it looks if you just put the phone away AND LOOK UP!! Who wants to watch fireworks on a little screen anyway?

Take a pic or 2, yeah, but then put the phone down and experience something in real-time! It's awesome!

[Aragarthiel]

For Little Ara's first birthday, I gave someone else my camera. I took a couple pictures of the cake when it was finished (since we had never decorated a cake by ourselves before and were pretty damn proud of our work), and some of my dad with Little Ara since that might not be a memory he gets again. The rest were taken by everyone else.

[notalwaysright]

For Little Ara's first birthday, I gave someone else my camera.

That's how stuff was when I was little. Of course video cameras were bigger and less common, but people still had them. My parents wanted to actually be involved in the celebration, and there was always someone else who liked filming, so they would do it. That way you still have the footage, and everyone had fun.

[minkysmom]

I never understood the appeal of watching life through a phone. I tried once to take pics at a concert and i missed so much of the personal attention the singer was giving the crowd due to trying to take good pics. That was my first and last time doing that.

[KellyHabersham]

You're probably not even gonna watch it again! You're just gonna put it on Facebook and attract the pedos! We're supposed to live to experience things, not take a picture every 5 seconds!

This very much describes what one of my uncles was like - at any family gathering, it seemed like he always "had" to get out the video camera and start filming things. Meanwhile, I could probably count on one hand the number of times he's actually sat down later and watched anything he's filmed over the years.

[Flygon_Trainer]

My family has some video that they shot of me as a child hugging trees and attempting to convince my parents a bear at the zoo was in fact a dog.

People age, voices change, memory fails, and frequently cassettes, discs, and hard drives fail.

.. But if you're very very lucky

Something bounces back out from the past.

So who knows- It might end up important!

[cindybubbles]

That's why Facebook has its memory feature. I posted some pics of my nephews 6 years ago, and Facebook just showed them to me today.

[Midnight]

This is why they invented a tripod. Set that shit up, hit record, and have fun.

[HawaiianShirts]

Just live in the moment, it's not living if it's through a screen in low quality video.

Agreed.

Mrs. Shirts and I went zip-lining as part of our tenth anniversary vacation trip. Had a great time and took a few pictures afterward. There was a girl in our group with a fancy camera who spent all of her zip line rides snapping photos. There was also a kid with a GoPro attached to his helmet. On one line, the guide sent the girl on her ride, then started hooking up the kid and telling him how cool he thought the GoPro cameras were. As soon as the kid was on his way, the guide turned to us and finished his comment.

"I like the GoPro cameras because they do all the work. I see way too many people come on this course with their phones out, taking selfies or videos the whole way. They don't enjoy the ride; they just document it! I mean... Ah, forget it. Who's next?"

(The rest of us did not have phones or cameras during the ride, so we really got to enjoy it, and we didn't have to worry about accidentally dropping our stuff into the lake.)

[Tama]

On the getting someone else to film, that is what I was used for at a party last summer. I hate being on any camera and I didn't really know half the people at this party so I volunteered to take the picture. So yeah, look for an introvert, they usually love not being in front of a camera for once!

Everyone came away happy.

[BlaqueKatt]

Just live in the moment, it's not living if it's through a screen in low quality video.

You'd hate me then, I film a lot of things, and always have, because my family is 900 miles away and can't be there for things. And my son is 400 miles from me, so without his grandmother or dad filming, I miss everything. Maybe we shouldn't judge others based on our personal experience?