We (must) Chat
An unhealthy obsession with all things digital is playing havoc with the way Chinese people interact with each other
YUAN REN
Dining out with a friend recently, I only realised that two people sitting opposite us were together when they got up to leave. For over half an hour they had appeared to be strangers: her taking selfies, him reading on his phone. When I pointed this out to my companion, he replied, “They probably just messaged each other to ask if they should head out.’”
In China, the act of “phubbing,” as it is known (a contraction of “phone-snubbing”) is far more noticeable—and definitely more acceptable—than in many western countries.
I’ve been severely phubbed many times. I dated someone who would start reading news or checking stocks whenever we sat down to eat. He’d perfected the dinner-phubbing pose of one hand holding chopsticks, the other scrolling his phone.