You are what you... Do... by Ben Hazlett

I think it was about a little over a year ago on Valentine's Day, I took Mary to Tucanos, which is an awesome restuarant in Boise.  Since I was not super prepared we didn't have a reservation and ended up waiting for a table. I used to be so annoyed at having to wait... however, now I'm so happy to have a night alone with my wife it doesn't matter how long we have to wait. 

As I waited, I began looking around the room at all of other people who, like me, had no foresight whatsoever and didn't have reservations. There were some families and some groups of friends, but the large majority were, as you might guess given the holiday, couples.   What I observed next was almost humorous.  Without exception, everyone in the room had their cell phone out.  Some were playing games, others were texting, and so forth.  The crazy thing was that though they were all there to be together, most of them weren't actually talking to the person they came to spend time with.  

Isn't it amazing how we can become so engrossed in silly things that don't really matter while at the same time neglecting the things that should matter the most.  Yet we tell our kids things like "practice makes perfect," "stop wasting time," or "you are what you eat."  If those things are true then all of those people want to become professional Angry Bird players, Facebook Stalkers, and Fantasy Football fanatics. Many others appeared to be more engaged in working on their relationships with people who weren't even their, while neglecting the person they are paying to have dinner with.  

I do think it's true that we largely become the things we do the most.  So where some would say that an example of time wasted is sitting on the floor with my kids crawling all over me, while neglecting the 10 text messages and 18 friend requests... (okay, lets be honest its more like 1 request).  Since I have decided I want to be a good husband and father, there's no better way to use my time! So next time your inner child screams "I'm bored, we should see if I have any tweets from total strangers," ask you self if that's what you want to be when you grow up.