New House Rule. Please Read

[MarkJohn]

If someone walks towards me in the street, totally unaware of their surroundings and the other people in it, as they are too busy looking at their bloody mobile... I DO NOT move out of the way; I brace and crash

We are turning into a nation of morons, staring in to little screens

 

[wireless man]

i work in a planetarium, you guys should try doing an astronomy show for the public! despite my rather clear announcements at the beginning of my lectures, some folks just can't put the electronic pacifier down. i have no mercy on these folks.

i have a large flashlight with a red filter on it. i sneak up behind them in the dark and light them up from overhead like a spaceship shooting its deathray. this usually results in a jump and maybe a shreik. that gets the message across pretty well.

 

[LizzieMaine]

As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list — I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed — who never would be missed!
There's the cellphone operators who run constantly their trap
Who make you fume and grit your teeth with their pestilential crap.
All children who their Facebook they must constantly update
And tell everyone within their reach with whom they sleep and date.
And all opinionated commenters who infest your mailing list
They'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed!

She's got 'em on the list — she's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed — they'll none of 'em be missed.

There's the movie show text-taker who must always punch her screen
And the technology evangelist — I've got him on the list!
And the people who for privacy would never give a bean,
They never would be missed — they never would be missed!
Then the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
Every new app that he's purchased for his overpriced iPhone.
And the lady from your office with that irritating blog
With forty-two new pictures of her slobbering old dog.
And that pretentious silly windbag, the online "journalist—"
I don't think he'd be missed — I'm sure he'd not he missed!

She's got him on the list — she's got him on the list;
And I don't think he'll be missed — I'm sure he'll not be missed!

And that comment-posting nuisance, who just now is rather rife,
The online meme enthusiast — I've got him on the list!
All Bluetooth wearers, iPad men, and all that techno life —
They'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed.
And forced expensive upgrades of a complicated kind,
Which cause eternal problems that you know you'll never find.
Innovative obsolescence will cost you reams of cash
Till you want to take the g.d. thing and fling it in the trash.
But it really doesn't matter whom you put upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed!

You may put 'em on the list — you may put 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed — they'll none of 'em be missed!

 

[Stray Cat]

^^
That's great:
"All Bluetooth wearers, iPad men, and all that techno life —
They'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed."
It's precious! :thumb:

I
Don't worry about being rude, they're the ones who are being rude to you, and they'll think they can get away with it if you let them. They need to be put in their place.

What is it that we (who only defend our own right not to be less important than technology) feel ashamed when we get the "finger", or when we are told to be quiet "Can't you SEE I'm on the phone" (eye-rolling), or when we interrupt the "conversation" (meaning: they ate texting while pretending to be talking to us)? I only ask to:
a) We talk tête-à-tête OR
b) they use their "device".
Never the two together. Still, I'm the one who ends up feeling like a fool. And, do think I am right. :tape:

i have a large flashlight with a red filter on it. i sneak up behind them in the dark and light them up from overhead like a spaceship shooting its deathray. this usually results in a jump and maybe a shreik. that gets the message across pretty well.

Cruel.
But functional. :thumb:

 

[Bruce Wayne]

 

[Stray Cat]

^^
Bravo! :thumb:

 

[Lily Powers]

If someone walks towards me in the street, totally unaware of their surroundings and the other people in it, as they are too busy looking at their bloody mobile... I DO NOT move out of the way; I brace and crash

We are turning into a nation of morons, staring in to little screens

Riding my bike back to work, I came up behind a girl on her cell with her earphones firmly placed in the open holes on either side of her head. We were both on a paved path. She veered to the right, I veered further right and rang my bell, she didn't hear it and kept veering. There was nowhere for me to go and her right leg had a one-on-one with my front tire. No one hit the ground and she continued her convo, "I just ran into a bike..."

 

[Sloan1874]

There's a tight wee corner in hell ready for bicyclists who wear earphones while on the peddle.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

 

[Stray Cat]

^^
Mr. Bruce Wayne
Where is that sign from? I'd love to send them a letter of support.

 

[GHT]

As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list — I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed — who never would be missed!

Lizzie, I am impressed by your literacy knowledge. Taken from Gilbert & Sullivan's: "Mikado." The speech of The Lord High Executioner.

Personal phones are such a bane, people tell me that they have 1500 friends on Facebook and they follow, or are followed, on Twitter, yet they never send, or receive, a greeting card from one of them. Electronic or otherwise. My phone is for business use, never take it with me when out socially. Sometimes I get told that someone might need to get in touch, urgently. Then leave a text or a message on the landline answering machine. We got by perfectly well before cellular technology. I will always accept improved technology, it's just this slavish attitude to the phone that annoys me. And have you ever experienced the annoyance of sending one of those phone slave morons a text, then wait so long for the reply, that by the time it comes back, you've forgotten the subject?

 

[Captain Neon]

The Bluetooth headsets remind me of Lobot from Cloud City in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

I was a little nervous this past week, with all of my traveling, that I'd go into withdrawal after having to return my iPhone to my former employer. Other than wanting to check my e-mail after getting off the plane in Georgia and then again in Kansas City, I don't miss the leash.

It's not just the cellphone-user that's irritating (when it rings while you're talking, and they tell you "Sorry, I have to get this one".. instantly giving you the hint you're less important).. it's the bluetooth-headset-user:

Those folk just show you the finger

meaning:
"Shut it, you technologically handicapped human, I'm talking here"

 

[Bruce Wayne]

^^
Mr. Bruce Wayne
Where is that sign from? I'd love to send them a letter of support.

I wish I could help you. It is just a pic I found online on memebase.com

 

[Zemke Fan]

Cell phone fiddling has become the cigarette of the 21st century. A prop, something to do with your hands, etc.

So, mashing together all of the metaphors here, I suppose we should do a mind-meld with the e-cig and the iPhone and you could suck on your phone to get your nicotine fix while reading text messages (except on Verizon where you can't do two things at once)... Make it so!

 

[ButteMT61]

I dunno. I've been guilty of being one of the zombies and I've berated familial zombies and friends. But I notice people seem (in my circles) to be on the way to recovery. Not a fast recovery, but less of the constant holding/replying/texting than previously. I am hopeful. Humans are like this - we find something new and it mesmerizes us. We also use such things for social reasons such as being uneasy, bored, or just OCD. I tend to be OCD and my affliction began with thinking I HAD to answer every work email within 10 seconds or I was going to be fired. That led to the ugly "never put it down" isse I've had. Once the newness wears off, I think people will gradually pull away. Or at least I'm hopeful.

 

[Captain Neon]

I was that way when I was first issued my iPhone. I was fascinated with just how functional the silly thing was. Every time it shook, I thought I just had to check my e-mail. I got to the point on the weekends where I would purposely run the battery dead. Nope. I don't miss my iPhone, and I hope my next job doesn't require me to be joined at the hip with another one again.

I dunno. I've been guilty of being one of the zombies and I've berated familial zombies and friends. But I notice people seem (in my circles) to be on the way to recovery. Not a fast recovery, but less of the constant holding/replying/texting than previously. I am hopeful. Humans are like this - we find something new and it mesmerizes us. We also use such things for social reasons such as being uneasy, bored, or just OCD. I tend to be OCD and my affliction began with thinking I HAD to answer every work email within 10 seconds or I was going to be fired. That led to the ugly "never put it down" isse I've had. Once the newness wears off, I think people will gradually pull away. Or at least I'm hopeful.

 

[rjb1]

"I hope my next job doesn't require me to be joined at the hip with another one [iPhone] again."
Perhaps those reading and commenting on this issue may be of help in finding a science fiction short story that I read many years ago - possibly as far back as the 1950's.
The story was about a future (now, as it turned out) in which all common people are issued electronic devices that they have to carry and monitor and follow instructions from about their work.
The "twist" was that only the very rich and important people did NOT have to carry those devices and be "connected" at all times. Privacy and solitude were reserved for the rich and privileged class.
Instead of everyone trying to get more of the electronic chains, the goal, or at least the wish of most people, was to get of them entirely.

I've been trying to remember the title or author or just find the story itself in an old SF anthology, but so far have had no luck. If anyone can help with locating it, I would appreciate it.

 

[HeyMoe]

Unfortunately my job requires that I am tied to my iphone 24/7/365. I get paid well to be connected to it so I have no issues with it and my wife understands. The only time I do not answer it is when I am at the Masonic Lodge or at a formal family dinner. In case of a real crisis, I excuse myself from the environment that I am in as I may be discussing HIPAA protected information and to be honest, no one needs to hear a one sided conversation about a mental health client in crisis.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In case of a real crisis, I excuse myself from the environment that I am in as I may be discussing HIPAA protected information and to be honest, no one needs to hear a one sided conversation about a mental health client in crisis.

I can go you one worse on that. We had a local proctologist attending a show recently, and while standing in the popcorn line he was going on at length, in an entirely unsubdued, completely unabashed voice, about what he saw inside a patient during a recent operation.

We didn't end up selling a lot of concessions that night.

 

[scottyrocks]

I have no issues with people who are connected for work, probably because I am not one of them (ha). What bugs me are people who are out 'socializing.' who don't look up from their phones, whether it's facebook, twitter, etc. I've seen roomsful of people doing this, and barely anyone reacting with one another.

I will not have a phone that is inet-enabled, iow, a smartphone. All it does is make its owner/user stupid.