When one thinks of shuffleboard, they may imagine “active senior living” with palm trees in the background. Possibly the deck of a ship out on the open ocean. But what about in a bar, full of Millennials playing in a league? Having the time of their lives, not sitting with phone in hand!
‘Eatertainment’ venues are catering more and more toward our generation while nodding to the decades before us.
From skee-ball Bars in Seattle to a bar filled with old-school Arcade Games, pinball, and board games in Salt Lake; these types of venues are helping encourage our generation to pay more attention to each other. To look at one another and have an actual conversation, to the point that maybe you forget you even have a phone to look at, or a Snap to post. These and other themed bars are trying to bring us back from the brink of social extinction by technology.
Relationships are for people
How many times have you been out to dinner with friends, or having a meal with your significant other, that phones weren’t involved?
I, personally, can’t think of one. They have become a part of almost every interaction we have these days. And I hate it. I hate trying to talk to the back of someone's phone, it makes me feel so special and needed. Remember how we used to date? Group hangs, bowling night on a Wednesday, maybe a movie night with seven people; that was when we had to look into someone else's face and speak. Crazy, right? Ahh...no.
If I had to guess (which I definitely am), I would say that 75% of all “Millennial” relationships began in an online forum of some kind. Now, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that; I just wonder how the first in-person conversation goes. I’ve never been in that situation, but if you asked me?
I’d tell you it was ten times more awkward than a we-met-in-person first date.
Have an actual date!
So, go out to the bar, play shuffleboard and backgammon. Find a deck of cards and spit out a nice game of Slap Jack or War, maybe some pinball would be nice. Whatever it is that you decide to do, leave your posting for the end of the night. Enjoy the time with your friends or your date, because there is nothing that needs to be posted that can’t wait until the night is over.
It’s time to get back to basics and start seeing people face-to-face. Start to reform those relationships. We are too addicted to our tech, and it’s starting to get in the way. Whether it’s your phone at the table, your video game at home, or Facebook calling your name….just turn it off for a day, and see how it goes. I think you’re going to live. You’ll find that you’ve been missing out on a lot.