Dubai: People’s priorities have changed. Nowadays, they pay more attention to their phone instead of those who are in their social setting. Gulf News spoke to readers about phubbing.
Junaid Samad finds himself using his phone most when attending business meetings. The 38-year-old Indian national said: “Since my job is more about sales and project management, I have meetings to attend on a daily basis.
“I would call myself addicted to phubbing because I use my phone between business meetings with clients. I am not a person who would keep his phone on silent. If the phone rings, I am keen on receiving it.
“Clients feel insulted when I start conversing in the middle of an important meeting. Everyone in the room becomes attentive. After my boss and client told me how they feel about such behaviour, I have started to become attentive.
“While I am in a meeting, I keep the phone on silent. However, family members complain that I miss their calls, especially my wife. But then, we communicate through text messages.” Samad is a head of department in a company based in Abu Dhabi.
Omar Al Busaidy, a 27-year-old Emirati, finds it difficult to pay attention to his family members while giving importance to his phone. He said: “I find myself paying less attention towards my younger sister, who always tries to have a conversation with me.
“Nowadays, phubbing is very common. I try to multi-task by chatting with friends on phone and also give time to family. But this leaves me with spending very less valuable time with my sister and I feel guilty about it.
“I have been told quite a lot of times about my habit, and I am glad that with time, I have returned to being a normal person from being a phone addict.” Omar is a government employee in Abu Dhabi.
For a 17-year-old Pakistani national, Nimrah Kabir Khan, teenage friends becoming a victim of phubbing is a common practice. She said: “Friends get annoyed when I use phone while I am with them. They snatch my phone and throw it away. This is the best they can do.
“But again, friends cannot always do this because they sometimes use their phone within the social setting, too. Teenagers like us do this a lot. But, I always try to change this habit.” Khan is high school student based in Sharjah.
Kiran Shaheen is happy to have her friends and family members adjust their time to talk to her. The 29-year-old Belgium national said: “I have definitely been a phubber as far as my husband is concerned. Most of my friends are in the UK and US, so I spend most of my late nights conversing with them on WhatsApp.
“Since my husband kept complaining about this behaviour, I told my friends and family to adjust their times to talk to me. When it’s day time in Dubai, my friends in UK and US stay up at night to talk to me, and my mum, who is in the UK, does the same.
“It’s my friends and family who adjusted their time for me, not the other way round.” Shaheen is an analyst in a equipment rental and sales company based in Dubai.
-The writer is a trainee with Gulf News
