There's an interesting trend that I'm starting to notice while hanging out in bars, even moreso now that school's out for summer (not necessarily forever). A group of barely legal patrons will walk into a bar, each of them with their respective mobile phones in tow. They order their drinks and chat a little bit, but then spend the first 10 minutes or so on the phone, either talking or texting someone, checking voicemail or e-mail, or whatever. Even though they walked into the bar with other living, breathing, human beings that they know, more often than not they initially ignore them. After they eventually finish their incredibly important mobile business, they glance around and find they are left with no one else to converse with but the friends they came with, and only then do they really start talking to them.
I don't know if it's a sign of our increasingly impersonal e-times (by younger people who can't recall life without e-mail and instant messaging), or an unconscious (or knowing) flash of their new digital camera phone as a status symbol (not a big deal anymore, since 10 year olds have them), but it's definitely weird behavior. Well, there's already no smoking allowed, and pretty soon there'll be no talking either, as entire bars will be silent except for the din of the digital jukebox and the sounds of people TXT messaging each other.