I’m eating breakfast,
And there goes a ring;
I’m schmoozing with a friend
And my phone goes ping, ping.
I am baking a cake,
My hands are full of batter,
The phone starts buzzing,
As if nothing else could matter.
I’m on a work call,
And in comes a ding –
The world has been overrun
With Ring, Ping and Ding.
The noises overpower,
My curiosity stops everything
Those rings now control
Whatever I am doing.
The news might not be earthshattering –
It’s usually a joke or emoji!
But whatever it is, if it pings on my phone,
You better believe, it got me.
I checked it just a minute ago,
Yet somehow, I check once more
As though the world would fall apart
While I’m walking to the door.
These pings rip apart my conversations,
The rings disturb my sleep,
I’m often awoken
By their insistent beep, beep, beep.
So now I’m connected,
I’m up to date on all the news,
I know every Shmerel’s opinions,
Thoughts, ideas and views.
But my brain is bursting –
I have too much info!
And none of it
Is anything I really wanted to know.
The world thinks
I can never take a break –
There’s always something happening,
Or a connection to make.
And every text needs an immediate response,
So, everything has to stop
Heaven forbid if I don’t write back
A friendship just might drop.
Or how about the friends who get together
To schmooze and have a bite to eat,
But instead of conversing,
They’re reading and pressing delete.
I’m sitting around a full table,
Yet no one is really here –
We’re busy talking somewhere else
To people far and near.
Or the moms who go to the park
To watch their children play –
They’re sitting and texting and chatting,
While on the floor, their hurt kid does lay.
Supper could be burning on the stove,
While children fight and squabble,
From down the hall can come the sounds
Of a leaky faucet mabul.
But Mom is busy now –
She’s focused on Ring, Ping and Ding,
She’s oblivious to the world,
She doesn’t hear anything.
I picked my phone up for one thing,
Just one quick little task…
Twenty minutes later,
I can’t remember what to ask.
This happens everywhere,
No one is immune
You might think you’re in control,
Until your phone starts singing its tune.
Out come Ring, Ping, and Ding
For a fresh, new attack,
You might think you got rid of them
But have no fear, they’ll be back!