A Thought On Phones Today

[HoneyNut]

If I were an employer I would make it crystal clear, NO CELLPHONE USE, GET CAUGHT USING YOUR CELLPHONE AT WORK, YOU'RE FIRED.

The managers use cell phones more than anyone, tho theoretically they are checking their work email constantly via their phones. Also, it allows them to be reached at all times (annoyingly also during meetings). Our director has a ring tone that sounds like bombs falling. Not sure who he uses that for but he tends to rush back to his office (pre-covid) when the bombs start falling.

Also two-factor security forces me to have to use my own cell phone to get codes to access some of our work systems. I kind of resent having to use my own cell phone when doing my work, and it does have a tendency to distract me into checking news headlines while I'm at it.

It was super annoying (pre-covid) to have people reading their phones during meetings, I wonder if people even realize their responsibilities, they show up without having read or thought about the substance being covered in the meeting, then they don't pay attention or engage. There are a lot of very passive people these days!

At the office there are signs on all the doors that cameras are not allowed (due to sensitive info), yet really we all have cameras because we have phones. Presumably they have watchers watching us covertly to make sure no one plays spy (in the office, I guess they are just out of luck during covid).

 

[MarciKS]

LOL the bombs falling is probably a ring tone set to alert them that their boss is communicating. I had a special ring tone on mine so when it went off I knew I was getting called in to work.

 

[Packerjohn]

It's strange that we all have phones these days, and yet so many people complain about being lonely.

They say that more people are lonely than ever before and they say suicides are up too. You know I think the trouble is not enough face to face conversation with real meaningful dialogue discussing what is really on your mind and in your heart. A phone call is nice but it cannot replace someone sitting at your kitchen table over a cup of coffee and both of you "chewing the cud" so to speak. As for those phones, they are being taken over by con artists trying to steal your money or advertisers trying to sell you something that you don't need. Technology is alright but its the people who are the problem. It is people who are addicted to cellphones, addicted to computers, addicted to endless TV. There are people who use technology wisely and then there are people who become technical zombies; totally brainless who are controlled by electronic toys.

Here is my favourite commercial related to cellphones!

 

[Aunt Marg]

They say that more people are lonely than ever before and they say suicides are up too. You know I think the trouble is not enough face to face conversation with real meaningful dialogue discussing what is really on your mind and in your heart. A phone call is nice but it cannot replace someone sitting at your kitchen table over a cup of coffee and both of you "chewing the cud" so to speak. As for those phones, they are being taken over by con artists trying to steal your money or advertisers trying to sell you something that you don't need. Technology is alright but its the people who are the problem. It is people who are addicted to cellphones, addicted to computers, addicted to endless TV. There are people who use technology wisely and then there are people who become technical zombies; totally brainless who are controlled by electronic toys.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[Judycat]

Smart phones are good time wasters.

 

[fmdog44]

After I got my second vaccine I sat in the 15 minutes waiting room required after the shot. The room was full of peoples of all ages, sex and race and every single one of them were staring at their cell phones. Some to the extent that their 15 minutes were up but they were too engrossed in their magic boxes.

 

[fmdog44]

I think I would like to carry an airhorn for those people walking straight at me staring religiously in to their phones.

 

[squatting dog]

 

[cdestroyer]

well your program bounced me to another part of this post before i completed the message remove it at your willi!!!

 

[cdestroyer]

you can buy an LG rebel 4 with 4g technology from amazon for less than forty dollars, it is prepay and costs 25 dollars for 30 days, voice and text unlimited.. you dont always have to use the phone part, you can use wifi for free from your local library, it will also play movies, record movies, pictures, surf the internet, epub books to read and games....fairly rugged phone even when dropped..

 

[Buckeye]

Reading all these cell phone hating posts reminds me about my great uncle Art (Arthur), who was born about 1890, and lived until the 1960s. Back around 1915 his wife (Jenny?) wanted to have indoor plumbing installed in their house. He said absolutely not because he just couldn't understand why "anyone would want to s*** inside their own house". The smell, etc, would just not be good. Of course Jenny prevailed, but when folks kvetch about changing technology, I think of Great Uncle Art. May he rest in peace.

 

[MarciKS]

They say that more people are lonely than ever before and they say suicides are up too. You know I think the trouble is not enough face to face conversation with real meaningful dialogue discussing what is really on your mind and in your heart. A phone call is nice but it cannot replace someone sitting at your kitchen table over a cup of coffee and both of you "chewing the cud" so to speak. As for those phones, they are being taken over by con artists trying to steal your money or advertisers trying to sell you something that you don't need. Technology is alright but its the people who are the problem. It is people who are addicted to cellphones, addicted to computers, addicted to endless TV. There are people who use technology wisely and then there are people who become technical zombies; totally brainless who are controlled by electronic toys.

Even sitting face to face chewing the cud has changed over the years. I remember when I was younger and my folks used to have coffee with other folks downtown and they'd all talk. You can't hardly find that now. Most people have nothing to talk about. They just complain and gossip. In between texting or looking at their cellphone making you feel like they don't have time to even be there gracing you with their presence. It's a very sad place to be.

 

[cdestroyer]

oh marciKS, you are so right! we used to have someone come by nearly every day to sit, smoke, drink coffee and chat....in all my life not counting family I have never had someone come to my home sit and chat over a cup o joe.......NEVER! I wonder maybe something is wrong with me!

 

[Packerjohn]

Even sitting face to face chewing the cud has changed over the years. I remember when I was younger and my folks used to have coffee with other folks downtown and they'd all talk. You can't hardly find that now. Most people have nothing to talk about. They just complain and gossip. In between texting or looking at their cellphone making you feel like they don't have time to even be there gracing you with their presence. It's a very sad place to be.

I live on the prairies in the middle of Canada. In all small towns and even in the big cities, they have "the good ole' boys" clubs where each morning a bunch of retired men sit around with their baseball caps on and "shoot the breeze." They love cafes that offer free refills on the coffee. You are right, they maybe all they do is complain and gossip but at least they do it face to face. I guess they all sit around talking politics and telling each other what the government should be doing to make things right. Right now, we have been locked down for 6 months with CODE RED so the good ole boys must be feeling the pain of not being able to sit together and "solve the world's problems." I don't belong to such a group as I have too much to do and I am a very active person. If I wasn't I might join such a group because being with them and "shooting the breeze" is a lot healthier mentally wise than sitting at home and watching 12 hours of TV each day.

 

[Packerjohn]

Not everyone can afford a Smartphone, nor want one. That means they are left out of the loop for certain specific services.

The same goes for those who can't afford, or don't have, a computer.

I had 3 brothers, 2 older and 1 younger than me. None of them really got into computer nor cell phones. I have a computer but no smartphone. Just a nice old fashioned flip phone for those emergencies. Maybe not having a smartphone really does make you smart. It's my observation over the years that very few people who have smartphones are smart! The "smart" part refers to what the phone can do. Many dumb people sit and stare at their smartphones all day long waiting for those "messages from loved ones." Staring at a smartphone does not make you smart. The opposite really! LOL

 

[Pappy]

I kept answering the guy in the next stall, in the men’s room, until he told me to shut up because he was talking to someone on the cell phone.

 

[squatting dog]

I live on the prairies in the middle of Canada. In all small towns and even in the big cities, they have "the good ole' boys" clubs where each morning a bunch of retired men sit around with their baseball caps on and "shoot the breeze." They love cafes that offer free refills on the coffee. You are right, they maybe all they do is complain and gossip but at least they do it face to face. I guess they all sit around talking politics and telling each other what the government should be doing to make things right. Right now, we have been locked down for 6 months with CODE RED so the good ole boys must be feeling the pain of not being able to sit together and "solve the world's problems." I don't belong to such a group as I have too much to do and I am a very active person. If I wasn't I might join such a group because being with them and "shooting the breeze" is a lot healthier mentally wise than sitting at home and watching 12 hours of TV each day.

We've been lucky here in the Ozarks. Never had a lockdown, didn't need masks and all the old guy's, (myself included) sit down at the local gas station and over coffee, (free re-fills) , shoot the breeze, solve all the worlds problems, and on occasion, bitch about some health issue or some doctor's advice that we might or might not listen to.

 

[saltydog]

You can't see a young person now-a-days without a phone in their hand. When a young person walks out of a building, or gets out of a car, the first thing they do is reach in their back pocket and pull out their phone.

Most phones today are no more than pacifiers.

 

[SetWave]

You can't see a young person now-a-days without a phone in their hand. When a young person walks out of a building, or gets out of a car, the first thing they do is reach in their back pocket and pull out their phone.

Most phones today are no more than pacifiers.

Young, old and in-between. Just about everyone has a pacifier glued to their brain.

 

[caroln]

I like having a cell phone on me when I go out. If my car breaks down I can call my husband or AAA. If I have a fender bender I can take photos. If I have an appointment and get stuck in traffic and will be late, I can call and let them know. All sorts of reasons to carry a phone. Maybe hoofing it a couple miles to a gas station may work for some, but at 72 I prefer to make a phone call for help.

A friend of mine is constantly stuck at home because she doesn't have a cell phone. She's always waiting for a call from someone...the doctor, the bank, the insurance company, someone coming to buy something she has for sale, etc., etc. She can't even go outside to her garden or clothes line because she might miss a call. I'm so glad I'm not tied to a landline anymore!

 

[jujube]

Reading all these cell phone hating posts reminds me about my great uncle Art (Arthur), who was born about 1890, and lived until the 1960s. Back around 1915 his wife (Jenny?) wanted to have indoor plumbing installed in their house. He said absolutely not because he just couldn't understand why "anyone would want to s*** inside their own house". The smell, etc, would just not be good. Of course Jenny prevailed, but when folks kvetch about changing technology, I think of Great Uncle Art. May he rest in peace.

My great-grandfather did not approve of indoor toilets. After a bathroom was installed in their farmhouse, he continued to use the outhouse to his dying day. I was glad for the bathroom, though.

 

[jujube]

Well, I'm in the minority here but I love my smart phone. I resisted getting one but now i don't know how I got along without it.

 

[Pinky]

You can't see a young person now-a-days without a phone in their hand. When a young person walks out of a building, or gets out of a car, the first thing they do is reach in their back pocket and pull out their phone.

Most phones today are no more than pacifiers.

What's scary, is, guys in traffic riding bikes .. on their cellphone.

 

[Packerjohn]

What you good folks are observing is "Cell phone addiction." The addiction to cell phone is just as strong as drugs, alcohol or gambling. If you take the phone away they have real withdrawal pains. Books have been written on this addiction. This is the main reason I don't have a smartphone/iphone. I like talking to real people and I have many hobbies like recording vinyl to digital.

 

[Ruthanne]

I'm glad I have a smartphone and a landline, too. I need both for different reasons.