Meredith v. Her wife

She is "always on her phone" — even during the conversations she says she wants to have.

“Every night I ask "how was your day" and she gives me three sentences while scrolling. I have asked her, repeatedly, to put the phone down for ten minutes. She agrees. Then her hand moves to it anyway. Last night she said "tell me everything" and then opened Instagram while I was answering.”

“I am listening. I just process while I scroll. I work all day with people demanding all of me. Looking at a phone for thirty seconds is how I rest. She is reading non-attention into a habit.”

Defendant, you are not wrong that you need rest. The Court hears that. But rest and presence are different requests, and Meredith is not making the rest request. She is making the presence request. When you say 'tell me everything' and then reach for the phone, you are not multitasking — you are signaling that her answer is optional. The habit may be unconscious. The wound it causes is not.

1. I.I. The phone moves after agreement to put it down. This is not a listening style. This is a broken agreement, repeated.
2. II.II. Defendant's defense — 'I process while I scroll' — is intellectualization of a felt absence. The Court notes this.
3. III.III. Plaintiff is not arguing about Instagram. Plaintiff is asking whether she is worth ten minutes of undivided attention. That question has not been answered.
4. IV.IV. Defendant experiences the cost of this habit as small. Defendant, notice that you experienced this as small because the cost was not yours.
5. V.V. Both parties want connection. They are arguing about a phone.