Institute For The Future

MOBILITY North America, Atlanta, freestanding observation 12/12

While checking into our hotel (a slow and confusing process), both Tessa and I had our iPhones out on the counter, checking the email backlog that we had missed on the flight. 

 The  man standing next to me (probably in his late forties, early fifties) leaned over and nudged me, remarking in an amiable southern drawl, "Hey, no texting at the counter, you hear?" 

 I had overheard that he was from another city in Georgia, and stayed at this hotel now and then for business.  I smiled and played along, asking him if that was a hotel, city or state rule.  "Oh, city ordinance," he replied, winked at the man behind the counter and turned away. 

While a number of cities and states have recently passed laws and ordinances  with respect to texting while driving and walking in crosswalks, I'm unsure whether this was a joke about that or a larger region or age (or both) ambivalence towards texting in a public area where face-to-face interaction is more appropriate.  I know this is certainly not a joke I have or feel I would encounter in the bay area.  I'm attuned to the question now.