Yesterday, we had a friend and her 18-year-old son over for lunch. Our children also joined us. My friend moved to the States 8 years ago, first to Kansas, then to New York. It was great to catch up and for my children to learn about the first generation of immigrants.
Also yesterday, a friend introduced me to "街电" (jiē diàn), which means "Street Power." Founded in 2015, Street Power company is a leading company in China providing shared power charging services. These services include power banks, two-wheeler charging stations, community charging stations, car charging stations, and car power banks. The company has served over 500 million users worldwide, with daily peak orders exceeding 3 million, covering 95% of cities in China.
My friend admitted something she's not proud of when she learned about Street Power Company: her excessive phone usage. She wished to be less dependent on it.
Indeed, the popularity of Street Power company highlights another side of China: the convenience of power charging and the dependency on cellphones for work, social interaction, and finances.
This issue of cellphone dependency relates to another topic I discussed recently — reading. Sometimes we tend to blame external factors for our failures.
For example, my Korean student claims she's too busy to read. Yet, she stays updated with K-pop culture, easily accessible via her phone. I think if there's time for K-pop shows, there's time for reading.
You might think, "I'm exhausted, I just want to relax with my phone." You're treating reading as a burden. True, reading requires thinking, meaningful engagement with the author, and a lot of mental energy. It's not as effortless as binge-watching TV shows, and you have the right to relax after work.
So the real excuse for not reading isn't a lack of time; it's the preference for the ease of phone scrolling. With this preference you might end up spending more time on your phone than reading. Believe it or not, taking your phone to the bathroom might keep you there for half an hour, while a book might only hold you for 10 minutes.
Reading isn't just about acquiring knowledge; it's about life itself. Reading can change your destiny. Ask yourself: what changes can endless screen scrolling bring to you?