Niagara Ice Dogs Game at the Jack Gatecliff Arena

St. Catharines, ON

Photo taken with my iPhone - which was subsequently returned to my purse and zipped in!

As an enthusiastic attendee of a recent Ice Dogs game, I was both appalled and amused by the number of people sitting there with their heads down, zombified by their smart phones. At a live hockey game! I mean, really, why did you trek out to the arena at all if you aren’t going to participate? And how is it possible to ignore the action anyway? Not even a commanding check into the boards could rustle up the attention of these folks – some of those in the front row didn’t even flinch!

Aside from missing the excitement of a game we’ve been deprived of so far this year, these phone junkies also miss the rest of the experience: the sudden eruption of cheering when we score, the smell of the popcorn and the call of the roaming beer vendor. They can’t engage in conversation with those sitting beside them: no musing about the antics of the forward, the coolness of the ref, or the charm of hearing Stompin Tom on the loudspeaker in between plays!

This is just one illustration of the twisted relationships many people have with their smart phones. Once I got thinking about it, I decided to write my fourth Tribune Community Editorial Board column on the topic.

Click here to read my opinion!