Stop with the phones already...

mudwrx

Just a rant on people and their G damn cell phones. We went to a concert Friday night (the Pink Floyd tribute band Brit Floyd, who used to be most of Australian Pink Floyd) and the show was amazing. Top notch sound and lights and effects. My rant begins with the 2 girls sitting in front of us, and their never to be let go of phones.

It was nice to see some younger Pink Floyd fans in the house, and we saw many. However during the show one of the girls was on her phone the ENTIRE show. Never mind that it is distracting to those around her, but she did not put the phone down once. I hardly even saw her lift her head to watch the show. As they were playing "Wish You Were Here" she leans over to her friend and says "This is my favorite song", all the while having her head planted in her phone. When the song was over she could not even put the phone down to applaud like every one else, she kept using it with one hand and slapped her leg with the other in her attempt to applaud.

This is just one example of this type of behavior I see with these kids and their phones all the time, all over the place. They have no idea how brain dead they look, how numb to the world around them. How they even function in society is beyond me (and it's proven some of them can't). They all think they have 4,000 friends and need to know every time one of them takes a dump or buys a new pair of shoes. Or they think they have thousands of people "following" them and needs to tweet every piece of minutia they can think of.

It is so maddening and kind of sad to see this. I can only say my kids will not be part of this group, who watch mind numbing reality shows and spend their life buried in their phones. I'll do my best to make sure they enjoy the real world and understand what is important in life. I have no problems with the phones themselves, we all use the technology everyday. It is when I see people doing things like this, it looks like they are brainwashed. It makes me think they have been lobotomized. It's just really sad to see.

Anyway, I'm sure I will see that girl from the show again, but it will probably be on the news as she walks in to a water fountain while texting on her phone.

BTW, the concert was amazing...

Dawgfish

Isn't it amazing we managed to survive as a species for all of those thousands of years without cell phones? :-)

decal

You should have politely corrected her public gaffe. That's all it takes for most folks to put away their phone.

boston1450

My youngest daughter's boyfriend is on his 98% of the time----to think he's going to BOOT CAMP in july..what will he do without cell phone or W-O-W crap....i asked for help one day.He avoided me like a plague... He was told by recruiter its a breeze....is it july yet-he is in for a surprise.

GlennDog

Ever notice the increase in brain cancer stories? You will . . .
Cell phone should never be pressed-up against the ear

Just say'n

G

zingo

mhardy6647

1) sounds like the young lady in question was multitasking - it's all the rage today (OK, it's been all the rage since about 1979 - it's just that we've got really good tools for it now).
2) the world's norms and expectations are changing - like it or not (and, no, I don't like it, either).

Polkersince85

Try taking one into the Augusta National this week. WHAT, you're taking my badge?

Polkersince85

.............

F1nut

boston1450 wrote: »

He was told by recruiter its a breeze....is it july yet-he is in for a surprise.

Hehe.....

George Grand

August '76. 4,000 degrees F, 98% humidity, and not a breeze in 6 weeks.

mhardy6647

George Grand wrote: »

August '76. 4,000 degrees F, 98% humidity, and not a breeze in 6 weeks.

sounds like boot camp in Baltimore...

Polkie2009

Mudrwx, I know what you're talking about. Our society today is getting to the point where people seem to be uncomfortable with having a face to face conversation with each other, preferring to just text or call them on their cell phone. Ever notice how many idiots seem to have their heads buried in their cellphones while they are walking or driving down the street. I see ithappening everywhere whether at the doctor's office, line at the grocery store, church etc...wherever people are, they seem to be absorbed in thought somewhere else. They aren't paying attention totheir surroundings and in return accidents are happening to them and others, especially in and around traffic.

charley95

Polkie2009 wrote: »

Mudrwx, I know what you're talking about. Our society today is getting to the point where people seem to be uncomfortable with having a face to face conversation with each other, preferring to just text or call them on their cell phone. Ever notice how many idiots seem to have their heads buried in their cellphones while they are walking or driving down the street. I see ithappening everywhere whether at the doctor's office, line at the grocery store, church etc...wherever people are, they seem to be absorbed in thought somewhere else. They aren't paying attention totheir surroundings and in return accidents are happening to them and others, especially in and around traffic.

I've been rear ended 4 times by these idiots. My phone doesn't exist when I'm in my car.

zane77

My stepkids don't even want to have a conversation on one anymore, if they can't text a message you won't here from them for weeks. The art of good conversation is dieing a slow death

dromunds

I was at a Bob Dylan concert at the Chicago Theater at October 29, 2007, the last show of the tour. I got second row seats off to the right. There was a girl in the very middle of the front row with her boyfriend. Her head never came up out of the cell phone glow. At the end of the show, Dylan (who hardly ever speaks in concerts) went to the center stage mike and said, "There's a woman down here been on her cell phone all night....SHE AIN'T SEEN OR HEARD NOTHIN'" Then Dylan stared at her and walked off the stage. She never even heard Dylan say it, her head was still in her cell phone. Somebody said those could've been the last words Dylan ever said on stage. Thank God it wasn't. I thought, "Who brought that idiot?" There was another woman near us who was trying to hide her cell phone in her purse while she texted away all concert.

avelanchefan

Saw this on a Time Magazine piece. Just the comparison of how quickly our handheld devices have evolved, it was amazing, yet technologically scary.

BTW- This is a picture of Vatican square when the last two Pope's were announced.

seabeerob213

and people too lazy to use a zippo at the concerts too, everyone is using their backlit screens now, it looks like hell, ust a headache inducing blanket of unnatural light, what ever happened to the warm, soft glow of a lighter

Tornado Red

Great thread, I agree with so many of you. It's made me rethink going to a lot of concerts, especially arena type venues. $100+ to see an act only to have someone spill beer on my back and the one in front has the need to record the whole show from 150 yards away on a little phone. Seriously, you paid all that money for tickets to watch it through that tiny screen on your phone? So of course, it's shoved up high to record, right about eye level for me. Gee thanks. Last night I had friends over and we watched Joe Bonamassa on blu-ray from Beacon Theater on my rig. No, it wasn't live but we had a great time with the sound cranked up and everyone left happy for a mere $20 outlay on my part. For me, that's a better time...........but then again, I'm a FOG:biggrin:

fossy

I work for a grocery store .... common break area ..... always an idiot that cannot have a conversation on a phone without the whole room hearing it ...... driving here in Austin is terrible with ppl on thier phone ...... hope they outlaw it ....

Danny Tse

When I went to a Celine Dion concert in Vegas several years ago (my ex-fiance wanted to go and therefore I went along), the venue had a "no cell phone during performance" policy. The staff made sure you empty out your pockets before entering the venue. If you have a cell phone on you, they took it away and they give you a tag to get your cell phone back after the concert (sort of like a "phone check"). I certainly don't mind....you're there for the music and the performance, not there to "video tape" the show. If people want to watch a concert through their screens, why not just stay home?

teekay0007

Tornado Red wrote: »

......but then again, I'm a FOG:biggrin:

...Not that there's anything wrong with it! :cheesygrin:

PolkieMan

If you get caught talking on the cell phone and driving anywhere even in your own car and the company sees you or finds out you are fired.

dromunds

Just think what the Rolling Stones U.S. tour is going to be like.....

rpf65

Seems like everybody is a bit upset with people and their cell phones. I blame the cell phones, themselves, for very little of the irritations that most of us experience. People simply have no idea what decorum is today. When I was young, less than 5, I already knew not to act up in public. Lets just say I would hate life for a while. That behavior was instilled at a young age, and manners seemed to magically blossom.

The biggest problem I see is that people think they are the only thing that matters in the world. Talking excessively loud in public on their cells is just one issue. Sure there are emergencies, but Miss Manners would suggest politely excusing yourself, leave the area, and then continue your conversation. Todays ettiquite dictates "let others deal with the annoyance.

As far as enacting laws against cell phone use while driving, they already exist, everywhere in the U.S. It's commonly known as disracted driving. Problem is, much like impeding the flow of traffic, it is very rarely enforced.

I really don't think it is necessary to ban children from cell phones, they are very useful and convenient devices. I would rather see people, in general, revert to a less enlightened period of time. Not too far back, just 30 years or so. In those dark ages, we were all taught that nobody is special, until he/she earned it. Save a life, invent some great thing, and then we'll call you somebody special. Currently, you haven't earned that title. You may be important to some, but your far from special.

oldmodman

I was pissed off at discourteous cell phone usage over ten years ago.

And it has only gotten worse. Much worse.

So do what I did. I built a cell phone jammer. I built it into my old Motorola Flip Phone. And now you don't even have to do it yourself, just buy one off of Amazon.

Yes, yes, I know it's illegal. But it is so much fun (and very enjoyable), to turn it on while I am in line at my bank. Just so I don't have to listen to three other people having "private" conversations blasting into my ears.
I never activate it while driving. I am too afraid that the other cell phone talking drivers will just pay even less attention to the road while trying to figure out what is wrong with their stupid phones.

Just last week it was on while in line at the grocery store and the woman behind me started bending my ear about the "crappy cell phone service in this store"

Music to my ears.

Glen B

zane77 wrote: »

My stepkids don't even want to have a conversation on one anymore, if they can't text a message you won't here from them for weeks. The art of good conversation is dieing a slow death

In defense of text messaging, I often do it, and have gotten my wife into the habit, but for valid reasons. If one person or the other does not have their phone turned on or in their possession at the time (like when working out at the gym for a couple of hours) they will get your text message at a later time, which is easier than playing telephone tag. I also send text messages when I am on public transportation or some other location not convenient for talking where I don't want to annoy others. Text messaging also uses less bandwidth, which is more convenient for communicating in areas where signals are weak.

But, yes, I don't understand what some people, expecially kids have to talk or text about on the phone constantly. I was at a restaurant recently where things were slow. All of the young greet staff had their heads down in their smartphones. :frown:

Danny Tse

[video=youtube_share;LKg02PbPtgg]http://youtu.be/LKg02PbPtgg[/video]

Tornado Red

Nice video Danny. Don't mean to hijack this thread, forgive me for that but...here's one that's been playing locally, thought it was well done...

https://www.yourlastwords.ca/en/Video.aspx

rromeo923

Reading this on my cell phone.....

mhardy6647

rromeo923 wrote: »

Reading this on my cell phone.....

Yeah... but are you at a concert or at the theatre?