Making A Decision!

This is one of my pet gripes as well.

As I have only recently acquired a mobile phone and only use it for text, to save call costs to another mobile - I don't understand why people (usually youngsters) use them like that either.

Like smoking in public places has been banned in the UK, I reckon mobile phones should be left at the door when entering a public place.

My most embarrassing moment came a few years ago when someone standing next to me in an almost empty pub started chatting.... I thought he was talking to me and felt a right idiot when I spoke to him and had a glare back as his other hand was pressed into his ear!!!

John.

I thought he was talking to me and felt a right idiot when I spoke to him and had a glare back .

Yup... I'm always getting this from the kids.

I stopped at a highway rest stop. Think how we felt when the guy in the washroom started babbling for five minutes. It wasn't until he started to leave that we seen the thing attached to one ear.

Look even Rudolph is getting in on the act.....

It's a two edge sword, but one side is duller than the other.

As to which edge is which is left as an exercise for the reader.

Take email, and in particular, this forum as an example. I have never seen worse use of language than on these two venues. Spelling, grammar, and sentence structure are effortlessly destroyed with the stroke of a keyboard's key. People do not even read their own writings (or can not read). I call it, 'Rooked on Phonics'.

I really like the statement, and I paraphrase, "It has been said that a million monkeys with a million typewriters can produce the works of Shakespeare. However, the Internet has since proved that false."

Email, text, and IM-speak isn't just used on the internet either. When I was an undergraduate I tutored in the College Writing Center. One day a girl came in for help with a paper she was writing for her composition class, mostly structure and grammar. As I read through her paper with her I became increasingly horrified with her word usage. Not only did I come across "thru", "idk", and "ppl", but there was even an "lol".

When I asked this girl what she was majoring in she said "English Education".

::shakes head::

Must have been the 12-year undergraduate program.

I wish I could say that it was! Sadly, that girl was a sophomore at a four year university.

English was my worst subject (by a wide margin) in high school. It wasn't until college that I discovered that I was paying for my education out of my pocket, so I better get my money's worth.

Aargh! What is all that? First of all, yes, I do have a mobile, yes, so do all the family, but we do talk, and when there's a text, they know better then to abbreviate to me!

A million Monkeys with a million typewriters in a million years!

All right! time to rant!

I agree, the goal of technology providers is to make you totally dependant on the technology. That way they have a captive customer that will need to buy from them on a regular basis. Then they advertise by telling you that you need the latest system. Standard brainwashing rules apply. The more you hear it the more you are likely to believe it.

Have you noticed that with all the upgrades to windows it does not work as good as say.. windows for workstations 3.1 designed for the old 486?

How often do you hear this:

"I need a new computer!"

"what is wrong with yours?"

"dad it's two years old!"

"does it do everything you need?"

"yes, but the newest programs need a better system" (to play games)

I find that this whole generation has lost it's creativity. With only a few exceptions (Matrix), all the latest movies are only re-hash of old movies done with better special effects (and poor acting)

This is the first generation in history that has not made its own music. Can you believe disco made a come-back? In our generation it only lasted about one year before it was banned because it lacked any redeeming qualities.

I feel the inappropriate use of a cell phone is an indication of a lack of respect for others. I don't want to hear someones life details spoken into the air in a public place. Do they think they are so important we all should hear? Also how many times have you seen someone driving a car but mentally on "autopilot" while they talk on the phone. This is dangerous! I have used motorcycles as transportation (and fuel savers) for years but dangerous drivers makes me rethink this decision.

"Do they think they are so important we all should hear?"

Worse yet, the think they are so important that no one else matters.

Didn't you know the whole world rotates around them?

Sad to say, more people are being born with defective empathy genes.

I couldn't agree more, also being a motorcyclist. As to their use in cars, ask Cozy Powell!

I have asked myself, "Why does the man carrying a conversation at the restaraunt table on the cell phone annoy me so very much while two people at the dinner table does not?"

I don't have an answer for that question. But the truth is that it does annoy me. Very much so in fact. I am very self aware when it comes to my phone use. I will excuse myself etc. If I feel I must take a call I step out of ear shot of others. I am proud to say that I am and always have been brought up on solid social principles by my family. I have also, since my youth, come up to know that even when respect is displayed to all that it is offered in kind by few.

It is a matter of upbringing. If I identify someone acting in a way that is by my standards disrespectfull, then I may choose to address that incident respectfully.

I am on my own path. Others may walk the path with me. But should I find my journey less pleasant as a result of their presence then I am no longer on my path but rather am travelling on theirs. My path is one of respect, growth, patience and love. More and more people cross my path. I can ru into them as a bttle of wills. Or in that brief time I might move around them temporarily straying from my path even stumbling on to some other path. There are many paths. It is my presence of mind, my self awareness that allows me to realize that at some time I have obscured some other's path. Even at times when I wish to guide them to a better path I might hinder.

So I must take care when I think that I am doing society some service by my attempts to engage some perceived wrong-doer.

So cell phones. People on phones don't bother me. My thoughts do bother me. People on cell phones I cannot control. It is my thoughts I must learn to control. Not people.

another Zen moment brought to you by,

cr3

p.s. I do wonder how I ever made it out of the market without calling the Misses 2 or 3 times.

Sorry CR3 I missed that...I was on the phone...what did you say? .

What gets me is the volume...don't they realise how senistive the mic is?

'I'M IN THE RESTERAUNT, YES .. I AM VERY IMPORTANT.... HANG ON I'LL SHUFFLE ABOUT A BIT AN MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS WATCHING.'

Del

HANG ON I'LL SHUFFLE ABOUT A BIT AN MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS WATCHING.'

Indeed.

God bless my wonderful Mother. She is so proud to be tech savvy enough to use the phone. She is a very kind and considerate woman, but I have to remind her that just because she is having a difficult time hearing the person she is speaking to it does not mean that she needs to speak louder to be heard.

I've almost made it to my fourth decade, and so far I have managed to avoid having a cell phone, as a matter of principal.

I have a land line and an answering machine. I value my private time and REFUSE to be accessable 24/7.

"I'm not currently available, leave a message and 'll get back to you - BEEEP!"

How ever did the human race survive before cell phones and computers?????

Likewise! We have an unwritten rule that if a 'phone rings when we are having a meal, it gets to ring! If we have guests, especially kids, they start to twitch! We actually have to explain that you don't have to answer a ringing 'phone, that; if it's important, the caller will leave a message or ring back. Is that too hard to comprehend?

Incidental, if you can, let a 'phone ring in a crowded office and watch the reactions. There appears to be nothing more....urgent.....to some people then a ringing 'phone!

Message on my answer phone - thank you for calling, please leave a message, and if I decide I like today, I might return your call. All recordings will be used to contact you.

Ditto.

I agree - but I did find myself in a shop last weekend calling my daughter to ask the shoes sizes of my grandkids.

Actually, I can go with that....

I suppose that I am odd, but I love having my phone. I also love that it is international and works all over the world, and that people can get me at any time. It really helps for my wife to be able to call me in Borneo on a moments notice when she needs something. Makes the distance seem less significant.

While I am a little old for text, I still send them to my daughter who is away at university. It is an easy way to stay in touch with her.

It's not that I don't think they are usefull...

So is cholera, if you want to loose weight!

Yes, I lived in Mexico for a year on a construction job. I went down there weighing 220 lbs, I came back a year later weighing 150.. Dysentary on a regular basis will take the weight off.

I just went over 250 posts..... does that make me a half a guru??

The official term is "ru". Enjoy.

Does that mean he just promoted from "goo"?

I hate phones in inapropriate places and I hate users that use them indiscriminately. Nothing wrong with the phone or the use of the phone, it is the context in which people choose to abuse their environment with them that gets my back up. I always excuse myself and even stand out in the cold to be out of earshot.

I used to NEED my phone as I had my own business and was always on the road or in customers factories. They are a godsent thing for those circumstances. They are also good for keeping in touch when you are away from home but there is a downside to that. My wife was going through a desperate time before now and used to make me feel realy bad when I had to state that I could not come home from the job in Ireland or anywhere. You can get in touch but if just talking is not enough, their is very little else you can do but feel bad. In those moments I wished it did not have any reception

Is there anyway to conduct a poll in CR4??

Most forums have that option somewhere... I was interested in the number of engineers in here that don't like mobiles and how many actually use them?!!

John.

Cell phones are a tool, when not a tool they are a BRAIN LEACH.

I've called them that for many years and the scary part is I think they are becoming more successful parasites, evolving to suck more logic out of their pets brains.

Technology seems to make smart people smarter and the crowd of followers dependant, unthinking, even dull.

A poor opinion but tool users and sheep.

2 less cents from

Brad

I don't mind people talking on their cellphones unless they're talking too loudly. Worse are those people who switch to loudspeaker mode so everyone can hear. If I can't hear you talking, you're fine.

Generally, my cellphone is in vibrate mode when I'm carrying it. At home, I switch it to the good ol' telephone ring that I've come to know and love. Why advertise that I have a phone? Everyone else seems to have one anyway. Besides, cellphone snatchers are plentiful in some places.

As to texting, I always use the built-in dictionary. I find that I can type faster and the message is easier to read. I get infuriated with people who over-use text abbreviations. I get even more infuriated when people email me using textese. Once I even sent someone's email back and told him to spell the words out properly.

Cellphones are here to stay and living with them may require getting used to behavior that comes from using them. Some behaviors, however, are non-negotiable.

Displaying a symbol of one's stupidity--stupid being one who never learned how, when, and why to use a phone--is something that many will never get used to. Frankly I have never seen a person adhered to a cell phone in public who did not give an appearance of stupidity in some way. I think one reason why cell phones are bothersome to sentient beings is the remembrance that, although there will be stupid people among us always, stupidity itself is something which was formerly practiced mostly in private, or among others of like mindlessness. For example, the person so addicted to noise that the car radio can never be turned down or off; or the person who can't start, or finish, a day without television noise during all waking hours. The problem, therefore, with cell phones is they invariably make all private stupidity public--and there's no way to escape it and still leave one's house. The best one can do (say, when watching some phone adhered fool waste others' time at a checkout stand, or at a gas station...) is to view that person as someone who, in effect, is announcing his stupidity to all observers...much as one could wear a sign proclaiming: "I am stupid." Such an approach to dealing with those with the "gotta talk even if there's nothing to say" addiction helps by bringing a little humor to offset, with practice even avert, the exasperation. Further, the cell phone can be seen as a form of public service--by letting others know just who is stupid and can thus be avoided.

I wouldn't go so far as to call everyone holding a cellphone in public as "stupid". That would depend on the circumstance.

It's okay if he's off to one corner or side and talking softly.

Stupid is if he's in the middle of the path, walking to and fro, getting people to move aside to avoid him, speaking as if he's talking to the President and having a laugh with him.

Another stupid is talking on the phone while walking on the sidewalk and then crossing the street, no less!

Even worse is one story in the newspaper when a car crashes, the driver comes out, and...looks for her phone.

Yes, to every rule there are exceptions.

"Even worse is one story in the newspaper when a car crashes, the driver comes out, and...looks for her phone."

If the action was induced by panic of not having the phone--to call someone and chat about the happening--yes, stupid. If attempting to summon aid, not stupid.

The operative indicator of stupidity--how you will always know it--is whether the cell phone use is such that what should be a private conversation becomes a public conversation: where the cell phone user is either seen or heard. Courtesy in phone use is no different as between wired, public or private phones and cell phones. As a courtesy to those in earshot, or those talked to, one excuses one's self to call on or answer a phone. The same applies with cell phones--except for those too stupid to have been taught. Fortunately some, but not all, outgrow the stupidity that comes with being youthful--who are, in fact, the most prevalent cell phone offenders.

Hi Vulcan.

Ye it is annoying isn't it. When ever I am on a bus and the teenages turn the volume up to listen to their music, I tell them in no uncertain terms to turn it down or get off the bus. Usually this works fine, but the other day there was a teenage negro on the bus playing really loud music, as there is a written sign displayed that this would not be tolerated I asked him to turn it down a bit. That was a stupid thing to do, the teenager produced a knife which he threatened me with! This sort of thing happens every day here in England, so I just walked calmly away and informed the bus driver, the police were waiting for him three stops down the line.

Spencer.

The basic premise here is correct. When Long Distance was expensive, and stops between clients was 3 hours or more, one had "Think time" to deal with problems. My boss's rule was only one call into the office, first thing in the morning, solve your own problems, and accummulate the ones you can't solve. And, I keep telling my protoges I'm bringing back 2 way memos in place of emails. Weren't they wonderful? But I have to disagree wiyh PblMAK on the grocery thing. I'm better off bringing home nothing, than the wrong thing.

Understand completely. My kids just retort with...."its an age thing Dad..."