Have you ever looked around a crowded café, a subway station, or even your own living room and noticed something strange? Almost everyone is glued to their phone screens. Conversations are interrupted, meals go cold, and real-life moments are traded for digital notifications. It’s almost as if people are imprisoned by their devices—hence, the clever play on words: “People are prisoners of their phones. That’s why they’re called cell phones!”
But is this just a joke, or is there some truth to it? Let’s explore how smartphones have taken over our lives, why we find it hard to put them down, and what we can do to break free from this digital prison.
The Digital Prison: Are We Really Addicted to Our Phones?
These Target stores are set to cIose: Here’s the full list
Target, grappling with escalating theft and “organized retail crime,” is set to close nine outlets across four states. Despite “adding more security team members, using third-party guard services, and implementing theft-deterrent tools,” the challenges with crime persisted. Below are the affected markets along with the remaining stores and employment data:
- New York City:
- Harlem: 517 E 117th St. (96 remaining stores, over 20,000 team members)
- Seattle:
- University Way: 4535 University Way NE
- Ballard: 1448 NW Market St., Ste. 100 (22 remaining stores, nearly 4,000 team members)
- San Francisco/Oakland:
- SF Folsom: 1690 Folsom St.
- Oakland Broadway: 2650 Broadway
- Pittsburg: 4301 Century Blvd. (32 remaining stores, over 6,400 team members)
- Portland:
- Galleria: 939 SW Morrison St.
- Powell: 3031 SE Powell Blvd.
- Hollywood: 4030 NE Halsey St. (15 remaining stores, more than 2,500 team members)
Over 150 stores remain operational in these regions. Target is boosting security through locking cases for certain merchandise and allying with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations division. “While we will continue to make meaningful investments throughout our business, we cannot solve this issue on our own,” the firm noted.
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