about the people sitting beside them. They display more interest in the newsfeed on their smartphones than in discussing current events with their compatriots. While bar patrons may think that their social needs are still being met this way, they are missing out on the spontaneity that verbal discussion with another human being yields. By definition, socializing is not an individual activity, so for a person to sit at a bar and pay attention only to his or her smartphone is to demean the bar-as-social-space paradigm. To choose to focus on a selectively portrayed Facebook profile or a heavily edited article rather than hold a conversation with a fellow human is to deprive him or her of the rich variety of perspectives outside his or her usual fodder. It is to disregard the very forum that he or she sought out in going to the bar in the first place. Even when people do put down their smartphones and engage with each other, their pocket computers do not sit idle for long. People, rather, have their mobile devices ready to recall a trivial bit of information that reinforces one point that has
36
been made or disproves another. While the ability to gather facts and verify information is a positive skill, the immediacy with which it can be done often hinders a discussion from ever fully getting underway. Building on the idea that socializing is a fundamental part of bar culture and that person-to-person conversation can expand one’s scope of perspective, and allowing a conversation to unfold organically is paramount. The exchange of stimulating ideas and experiences, the desire to relate to another person or a small audience, and the satisfaction of immediate and revelatory feedback are the gratifying takeaways from barroom banter. If, as mentioned before, the desire for alcohol is secondary, then the need to look up facts and validate arguments is tertiary at best in traditional bar culture. This is an activity that one can do on his or her own when reflecting on the conversation or experience afterward. But without the discussion in the first place, a person has less to contemplate later. The importance of the many ways in which technology, specifically the smartphone, fosters human
interconnectivity on a global scale cannot be overstated. However, traditional bar culture does not operate on a global scale. Quite the opposite, bar culture deals with the relatively few people who inhabit a shared space for a while together over libations. A smartphone, for all of the apps and functions it may possess, can no more laugh at a joke or give a conciliatory pat on the back than it can offer up an impromptu and relevant cheers. It is a tool, an inanimate object that cannot replace the social experience of having a conversation in real time with another person who is in the same room. Therefore, out of respect for fellow bar patrons and a culture that has been centuries in the making, a smartphone in a bar is best powered down and tucked away in a pocket or purse where it cannot impede the interpersonal interactions of its owner. Works Cited Portnoy, Gary. “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.� Music from Cheers, Earthtone, 1983.
the star