We don’t need a poll to confirm that using your smartphone in a theater is insufferable.

We don’t need a poll to confirm that using your smartphone in a theater is insufferable.

The dumbest times to use your smartphone

  • By Doug Parry
  • Thursday, March 17, 2016 11:33am
  • Local News

Two-thirds of us now own smartphones, but how many know when it’s proper to use them? We asked for your advice in our latest poll at HeraldNet.com.

Hardly anyone followed the directions to choose multiple options if they wanted; perhaps they were distracted by their phones as they voted. So we’ll just take these in order, from least to most offensive times to use a smartphone:

While walking down the street, 14 percent. This becomes a bigger problem if you’re on a busy sidewalk behind someone who’s texting while moving at a glacial pace. The bright side: Eventually there will be a pothole, and karma will quite literally trip them up.

In a public restroom, 16 percent. You’ve got a little idle time and your hands are free, so why not multitask? I’ll tell you why. A study found that 19 percent of people have dropped their phones in a toilet. Along with wrapping fish and lining birdcages, using a restroom falls into the category of “things best suited to printed newspapers.”

When spending time with kids, 21 percent. You’re supposed to be attentive when your kids are talking, even if they’re blathering on about PewDiePie’s latest YouTube video. Resisting your smartphone in this situation is one of the true tests of parenthood.

At a movie theater, 25 percent. This is how we know most people only chose one answer in our survey. There cannot be 75 percent who think it’s OK to bust out your phone during a movie. Seventy-five percent might think it’s OK to throw a Hulk-style tantrum at the sight of a glowing phone after the lights go down.

At the dinner table, 25 percent. Many of us have instituted a dinnertime rule against gadgets. Pro tip: Do not break this rule to check the score of a game, or your own scoring average could be in serious jeopardy.

— Doug Parry: parryracer@gmail.com; @parryracer

Next up, tell us what you think should be done about parking in downtown Everett.

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