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Defensive much (some posters)? I think people who always have their noses in their phones are blissfully ignorant of both their own and others' addictions to it. You kind of have to be looking up and around you -- not staring at a phone -- to see that, yes, everyone has his or her nose buried in a phone or is preening/posing/fake smiling/doing the open mouth thing in front of it. It's like Narcissus can now carry that reflecting pond around with him 24/7. If it weren't so creepy, it would be almost comical.
My own observations is that many now are out and pushing their baby stroller, walking with their little kids (especially to school) or walking their dog, and constantly looking/interacting with their phone. I suspect it has something to do with a subtle rewiring of the brain, but it certainly takes them out of the present, and they miss out on interaction at the moment. We'd interact with our babies and/or kids when out with them, even if meaningless conversation. I have a special needs adult daughter who I interact with a lot when we are out, and am never distracted by a cellphone.
I know to some this comes off as judgmental, but I just want to point out some of the potential downsides I see to heavy engagement with technology.
Defensive much (some posters)? I think people who always have their noses in their phones are blissfully ignorant of both their own and others' addictions to it. You kind of have to be looking up and around you -- not staring at a phone -- to see that, yes, everyone has his or her nose buried in a phone or is preening/posing/fake smiling/doing the open mouth thing in front of it. It's like Narcissus can now carry that reflecting pond around with him 24/7. If it weren't so creepy, it would be almost comical.
I agree - some are. But I AM looking up around me - usually I have an audio book on if I am "passing the time", and I see plenty of folks that are NOT on their phones.
I will say that the ones that really get me, are the girls in the gym locker rooms that are taking "butt pics" and "duck face" pics and doing Lord knows what with them. I just shake my head at them.
LOL. I've seen that video and of course it's an exaggeration, to make a point. But sure, sometimes I go into a restaurant and see a whole table of folks on their phones. But many of us use it simply when passing the time. If I am waiting in line for something, I'll definitely pull out my phone. Why not? Unless there is something going on that's interesting to watch, I can play a game, listen to a book, or take care of business. It's darn convenient.
Hmmmm, to me, that behavior which is called "normal" is being a zombie.....or an addict. One is tied up in this device that it occupies their attention for hours on the day. Worse in that if someone questions them on it, they justify it, say it is not.
Whether right or not, to someone on the outside, I don't want to become one of those and so I turn my back on that aspect on the 21st century.
EDIT: One might say, "How is it any different? You are constantly on the Net!" But am I? In the morning, I make a post, I go elsewhere but the computer with its Net link is left in its one room in the house, it doesn't follow me around, it is not there for that "Oh, it is just 2 minutes!" to check, to post a thought.
But with the cell phone, most of us can do that at any time.....all the time. To me, that's an addict and I subscribe to "If temptation cannot be resisted, then it must be avoided.".
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 10-20-2023 at 04:50 AM..
So, if you do agree that our way of life is going the way of the dinosaur, how much longer do you think those of us who prefer a simple and mostly tech-free environment will be able to resist and refrain from joining the 21st century?
Not sure you received any answers from your fellow Luddites. Since that rules out smart phones, tablets, texting, streaming, self checkouts, patient portals, online shopping and most activity on the world wide web, and on and on, how long do YOU feel you can refrain?
I agree - some are. But I AM looking up around me - usually I have an audio book on if I am "passing the time", and I see plenty of folks that are NOT on their phones.
I will say that the ones that really get me, are the girls in the gym locker rooms that are taking "butt pics" and "duck face" pics and doing Lord knows what with them. I just shake my head at them.
They can take stupid pictures of themselves all day long for all I care. What gets me at the gym are the ones who prance up in their cutesie little outfits into the 30-minute circuit area, park themselves on a machine and then proceed to sit there looking at their phone for 15 minutes so no one else can use the machine they are sitting on.
PLEASE go back into the locker room and take pictures of your body to send to whomever it is you are trying to hook up with, and get out of my way.
Also with the audiobooks--that is something I have come to really enjoy. I sometimes listen when I am walking my 2+ miles, and since I work part-time in the city and have a long train ride when I do, it gives me an opportunity to listen to something interesting. I bought a good pair of bluetooth headphones.
Also with the audiobooks--that is something I have come to really enjoy. I sometimes listen when I am walking my 2+ miles, and since I work part-time in the city and have a long train ride when I do, it gives me an opportunity to listen to something interesting. I bought a good pair of bluetooth headphones.
Well, hopefully nothing will ever run you over when you are listening to something interesting as oppose to being aware to the world around you, immediate and doppler. That's the way I see a lot of our current century where people tune out but say it's nothing.
Is that what us luddites have learned in all our decades, that we can be in life like that? Long story short, what happened to our situational awareness?
You're assuming that people go off into space somewhere while they are listening to an audiobook.
I am single. If I did not use a smart phone, a computer, and a laptop when traveling I would not be able to get my business done. I would have to rely on friends since I live far away from relatives. My friends have their own business to deal with. Why should I burden them with my business?
I can get my own business done, and I should. Many years ago when my kids were still in high school and college, I would need some help learning something. They started refusing because it's just too difficult to help someone who doesn't know what they are doing. So, guess what? I learned. It wasn't always easy. Sometimes it still isn't because technology keeps advancing.
When I have patient portals, Social Security, Medicare, student loan issues (which thankfully are gone now), and especially, shopping to do because I can't find it in a freaking sticks and bricks store locally, I HAVE to use a smart phone or a computer to get the damn products - or drive 30 miles to the city. Which option am I going to use? Right: a computer.
Have you ever noticed how stores aren't carrying product anymore? Or they run out and it takes forever to get more stock in?? I had this happen recently when I went to buy a Brita filter. I had to buy a pack of 3 instead of 1, which really annoyed me. I don't need 3. I need 1. 2 weeks later I went to check. Still no packs of 1 on the shelf. There are many other examples of this.
Stores like Walmart are going the way of Costco. Forcing us to buy in bulk. I live semi-rurally. The nearest Publix is 20 miles away, the nearest Kroger is 25 miles away, etc. etc. I have to shop at Walmart or travel a distance.
Even Amazon is starting to do this same thing. Offering things in bulk instead of singles. They're pushing us too, just like Walmart started doing. Ever look at the online shopping for Walmart? They force the bulk items first. You have to use the pulldown for "lowest to highest" and even then they'll often still pull up the bulk items.
I have a dear friend who is like an older sister to me. She is 85. She does not have a smart phone or a computer. She has a cordless phone. She mentioned to me recently that if she didn't have the phone she wouldn't be able to keep up with her friends. Many times I'd like to forward an article or a photo or a funny joke to her but I can't do it because she's not online.
I known another woman cursorily form the dog park. She has no cell phone or computer either. There will be a time in the near future (10 years?) when people will absolutely not be able to get business done without being wired in.
What I am saying is that we are being forced to use technology. The people who refuse to use it are going to be the losers. Why do you want to impose yourself on others to help you when they have to do for themselves and you've become a burden?
Well, hopefully nothing will ever run you over when you are listening to something interesting as oppose to being aware to the world around you, immediate and doppler. That's the way I see a lot of our current century where people tune out but say it's nothing.
Is that what us luddites have learned in all our decades, that we can be in life like that? Long story short, what happened to our situational awareness?
Sorry to disappoint, but there's hardly anything that can run over me where I walk, which is either in a rather large county park that includes both paved walkways and wooded paths or a mile-long boardwalk at the edge of the continent. I don't know what you were imagining, but whatever. Sometimes I leave the headphones home, sometimes it's a camera day, but I do enjoy learning, and audiobooks have been a fine addition to regular print books at this stage in my life when my eyes tire more easily.
I'm quite aware of my surroundings at all times. The way you see a lot of our current century seems to me to have a lot of big splotches of blurry and opaque areas, so you enjoy your little world and I'll enjoy my expansive one, and we'll both be content.
They wash the checks and write it out to whomever they want and change the amount. It’s definitely a problem locally. I also don’t use outside mailboxes as they get broken into and the mail stolen. If my bank was that incompetent I would change.
Yup, post offices here no longer have big blue boxes outside to drop mail off. Too much was getting stolen. Thieves were even stealing from boxes inside the lobby. Now they just use mail slots where the mail drops into the mail processing room.
My community wrote a check to the water department for $3600. This was done through our property management. The check wasn’t washed. Everything remained intact….the amount, the water department payee, my community’s name. But on the back, someone write “pay to the order of…” and signed sone name illegibly. We still can’t figure it out. It was mailed from the management office. It happened with other checks from that office. So it wasn’t a water department employee who did it. Either someone from the management office or a USPS employee. I don’t think the check was actually cashed. We weren’t out the money. All I can think of is that it was someone attempted to make a mobile deposit, but even that doesn’t make sense because the bank would eventually catch it and dud..we were notified about the fraudulent activity.
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