[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bodinagamin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roy', 'M')y wife went out for coffee with a young friend/associate from the school PTO.
(...)

[JJ]

Please Text Outside

[stonecypher]

"I have no objection to such reasonable and appropriate use of these devices (tho' the mapping while moving is a stretch imo). It's the masses of the obnoxious, oblivious and inconsiderate, that have no legitimate use for them other than for their (delusional) 'hipness', that deserve to be gently guided toward a cliff while they merrily 'communicate' with others as obnoxious, oblivious, inconsiderate and delusional as themselves."

HEAR, HEAR!!! I hope I live long enough in the PAW to witness Crackberry withdrawal symptoms in the obnoxious masses (from a safe distance, of course.)

"Perhaps BlackBerries should come with a health warning. Sore thumbs, a distracted look, social outcast: the telltale signs of a BlackBerry addict don’t look good. If this accurately depicts you, it is time to put the gadget down."

http://www.iconbar.com/articles/Addicti ... x1112.html

[mommy22]

I'm the mom of 2 girls, one is 15 and one is almost 11. Neither of them have text messaging on their (very basic, prepaid minutes) cell. I told my oldest if she wanted it, she could pay for it. BUT...the overwhelming majority of kids have them now (although they are not allowed to use them at school). The problem, however, as I see it are parents who allow their kids to be in social situations and not tell them it's not ok! For example: A few months ago, we were out to dinner with friends from out of town...we hadn't seen our freinds for 2 years, and the kids hadn't seen each other either (good friends). The 14 yo daughter texted the entire way thru dinner, completley ignoring my girls and everything that was said to her was answered with "What?". 2weeks ago, our family was out to eat and another family sat directly across from us. The teen son litereally spent the evening looking down at his phone and didn't seem to participate in conversation with anyone else at the table. The parents seemed completely fine with that.
I really think that the future holds the overwhelming majority of kids who can't pay full attention to anything. And those of us who do not let our kids behave in such a manner can hardly beleive that rudeness is allowed now in such a manner. I, for one, am SOOOO tired of having to repeat myself at least twice to anyone plugged in to anything...to me, it's really irritating.
And don't get me started about people who seem to think that texting while driving is ok...please, when one is driving a 2000+ lb vehicle, or a truck, the only thing they should be paying attention to is the road and drivers around them.

[Crazy_Dad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mommy22', 'I')'m the mom of 2 girls, one is 15 and one is almost 11. Neither of them have text messaging on their (very basic, prepaid minutes) cell. I told my oldest if she wanted it, she could pay for it. BUT...the overwhelming majority of kids have them now (although they are not allowed to use them at school). The problem, however, as I see it are parents who allow their kids to be in social situations and not tell them it's not ok! For example: A few months ago, we were out to dinner with friends from out of town...we hadn't seen our freinds for 2 years, and the kids hadn't seen each other either (good friends). The 14 yo daughter texted the entire way thru dinner, completley ignoring my girls and everything that was said to her was answered with "What?". 2weeks ago, our family was out to eat and another family sat directly across from us. The teen son litereally spent the evening looking down at his phone and didn't seem to participate in conversation with anyone else at the table. The parents seemed completely fine with that.
I really think that the future holds the overwhelming majority of kids who can't pay full attention to anything. And those of us who do not let our kids behave in such a manner can hardly beleive that rudeness is allowed now in such a manner. I, for one, am SOOOO tired of having to repeat myself at least twice to anyone plugged in to anything...to me, it's really irritating.
And don't get me started about people who seem to think that texting while driving is ok...please, when one is driving a 2000+ lb vehicle, or a truck, the only thing they should be paying attention to is the road and drivers around them.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mommy22', 'I')'m the mom of 2 girls, one is 15 and one is almost 11. Neither of them have text messaging on their (very basic, prepaid minutes) cell. I told my oldest if she wanted it, she could pay for it. BUT...the overwhelming majority of kids have them now (although they are not allowed to use them at school). The problem, however, as I see it are parents who allow their kids to be in social situations and not tell them it's not ok! For example: A few months ago, we were out to dinner with friends from out of town...we hadn't seen our freinds for 2 years, and the kids hadn't seen each other either (good friends). The 14 yo daughter texted the entire way thru dinner, completley ignoring my girls and everything that was said to her was answered with "What?". 2weeks ago, our family was out to eat and another family sat directly across from us. The teen son litereally spent the evening looking down at his phone and didn't seem to participate in conversation with anyone else at the table. The parents seemed completely fine with that.
I really think that the future holds the overwhelming majority of kids who can't pay full attention to anything. And those of us who do not let our kids behave in such a manner can hardly beleive that rudeness is allowed now in such a manner. I, for one, am SOOOO tired of having to repeat myself at least twice to anyone plugged in to anything...to me, it's really irritating.
And don't get me started about people who seem to think that texting while driving is ok...please, when one is driving a 2000+ lb vehicle, or a truck, the only thing they should be paying attention to is the road and drivers around them.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mommy22', ' ')The problem, however, as I see it are parents who allow their kids to be in social situations and not tell them it's not ok!

And don't get me started about people who seem to think that texting while driving is ok...please, when one is driving a 2000+ lb vehicle, or a truck, the only thing they should be paying attention to is the road and drivers around them.

[Roy]

Maybe this thread could spawn a new one about the general rudeness, or lack of etiquette, amongst our fellow Americans. There may already be one somewhere around here but I can't say for sure.

Case in point:

Friday night my 8y/o daughter had a slumber party with six girls from her school.

They ate supper at my house, played into the night, and ate breakfast at my house.

During both mealtimes, the only kids I heard saying 'please' and 'thank you' were my own.

The other kids were extremely rude (had I acted like they were my mom would have um.... corrected me )

No etiquette whatsoever. "I hate pizza said one." "What, you don't have blue milk?, I hate red milk and I hate that cereal". Egregious ettiquette violations when a guest, or so I was taught.

Being that they're little kids, I can lay the blame squarely at the feet of their parents.

I am no Mr. Manners myself, but I do strive to teach my kids basic social etiquette like please, thank you, yes sir, yes mam.. Calling adults, if they use their name, Ms Rhonda, Mr. Dave etc. None of the guests did that.

They continually interrupted my wife and I when we were talking, and addressed us as if we were their equals.

I will add that most of those kids' parents are in their 20s and 30's, ie younger than Mrs Roy and myself.

One of those parents is the lady referred to in my first post on this thread. Is there a connection? I think there is.

[vision-master]

The most well behaved kids I've seen are either skull caped Jews or Amish kids. The worst are black kids.

[mgibbons19]

Clearly there needs to evolve some sort of general etiquette with these things.

I was beginning to hate my blackberry. Buzzing at me and always some crisis. Crazy boss sending me emails. Blech. However, since I have been downsized, I really miss the damn thing. Now I have to sit at home to send emails. I have to wait at home for phone calls. Can't text my wife to get her to pick up the milk on the way home. If I don't have a fax number when I get to Kinkos, there's no zipping through the old emails to find the number, or cruising the net to obtain the fax number. I gotta go back home and get it, or pay Kinkos to use their stinking computers to get the number.

Oh well. All that convenience wasn't worth dealing with crazy boss any longer.

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'T')he worst are black kids.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TWilliam', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'T')he worst are black kids.

[sihmei]

Thankfully these bloody things will be the first things to go in the future. They are high energy, high entropy, high complexity and will quickly fail... last to arrive, first to leave.

[mommy22]

Just to clarify, only my 15 year old has any minutes on her phone....their dad went to some sort of a show and they were passing out Go phones, so he got 2. We haven't spent any $ on the 11 yo's phone...what is a good age, anyway?

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mommy22', 'J')ust to clarify, only my 15 year old has any minutes on her phone....their dad went to some sort of a show and they were passing out Go phones, so he got 2. We haven't spent any $ on the 11 yo's phone...what is a good age, anyway?

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mommy22', 'J')ust to clarify, only my 15 year old has any minutes on her phone....their dad went to some sort of a show and they were passing out Go phones, so he got 2. We haven't spent any $ on the 11 yo's phone...what is a good age, anyway?

[WildRose]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mommy22', 'J')ust to clarify, only my 15 year old has any minutes on her phone....their dad went to some sort of a show and they were passing out Go phones, so he got 2. We haven't spent any $ on the 11 yo's phone...what is a good age, anyway?

[Roy]

The idea that everyone HAS to have a cellphone is ludicrous IMHO.

It is probably one of the most successful marketing schemes in history, perhaps second only to the idea that SUVs are safe and every responsible parent must have one to protect their brood.

How did those of us over the age of 20, manage to survive childhood and our teenaged years, even thrive, without a personal communicator attached to us at all times?

The horror!!!

After recieving 59 emails and 17 calls on my Blackberry during work hours yesterday, each demanding immediate and full attention , I am ready to smash the fcuking thing into a million pieces.

THAT would feel really good right about now.

As I look around at people from every economic strata staring at their communicators, I often think "The average cellphone bill is about $60/month". Look at all that money being made, and for what? A little extra bit of convenience?

Successful marketing indeed.

[vision-master]

I refuse to have a cell phone hanging around my neck.

What grips me is, the office down the hall communicates to you only by email.

fuck em.

[jasonraymondson]

I don't have one and refuse to have one. Sure it might cost me work... but I don't fucking care.

I am going to be laughing my ass off when all of these kids are diagnosed with massive brain tumors in a few years.

I can't wait to hear they excuse of "nobody told us" "How could we have known"

Then everyone will sue the makers of the phones, the cell companies... and there will be regulations and it will occupy the news for several years.

It is so fucking easily predictable that I am not sure whether to laugh or cry.