The last thing that I have to say about our trip to Japan (really, this is the last of it) is to comment on how two members of the family spent most of their time as we saw it. There’s a lot of reading material online these days and for Michael and Emily it apparently proved to be far more interesting than anything that was going on around us.
It annoyed the shit out of Caroline and to be honest, myself as well on more than one occasion. There’s nothing like trying to navigate a crowded Japanese footpath or subway when someone has their head down and is too absorbed in their screen to take note of what is going on around them.
I’m not saying that they needed to or should have spent the entirety of the trip watching what was going on about them, but there was certainly an opportunity to see a bit more of Japan than they managed. The fact that any stop of longer than approximately 2.3 seconds saw a phone/iPod produced and its owner engaged in reading was a little grating.
Michael will tell you that once you’ve seen one tall building you’ve seen them all, but the reality is it wasn’t just in the city that he did it. Part way through the trip I decided that rather than get angry about it, I’d just start taking photos of them when they were doing it. I think the most ridiculous time had to be the one where Michael went to the effort of pulling out his phone so that he could read while he rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain.
So having said that, here’s the evidence:
Just walking the streets ...
Before or after food ... (Heaven forbid you talk to your family!)
Waiting just about anywhere ...
What temple?
At the top of the world ... What view?
And yes, as promised ... Even on a ski lift (Michael is on the right, Thomas is just looking at the ground).
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