Put the damn phone down!

ScottK

ScottK

Pre-takeoff checklist
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ScottK
Manners, etiquette, respect! Do these not exist anymore?

My main pet peeve is that people will read/text/reply while someone is standing there talking to them. I consider that incredibly rude, but I see it all the time.

Standing in line at a convenience store, I saw the clerk (mid-checkout) pick up her phone and start texting. And strangely, nobody but me seemed to notice or mind. I ask her if her boss is aware she does that, she gave me a dirty look and slammed her phone down on the counter. Then I got a sarcastic "have a nice day". I will be speaking to the manager next time through.

At another store, I saw a customer continue their conversation about last night's ballgame while checking out. He was completely engrossed in his own world with no respect for the lady that was helping him. And these aren't all young people either. I see just as many adults doing the same thing.

I was at a restaurant the other day and watched a family of 4 sit down, order, eat and leave with little more than a word or two of interaction. All four (dad, mom and two teenage daughters) spent the entire dinner staring at their phones. And I'm not exaggerating. There weren't more than 3 or 4 words said by any of them.

I've heard people blame social media for this, but I don't agree. I use Twitter/FB and forums like this. I don't, however, disrespect people by using my phone when interacting with them. My Dad taught me to look a person in the eye and be respectful at all times. And you know, it isn't that hard to do.

Please people, put down the damn phones and pay attention to each other and what's around you. You'll be surprised at how much your missing.

Rant over.
 
I once saw a grocery clerk say, "Next!" bypassing a customer who was jabbering away.

My personal favorite was the guy on the airplane talking on the phone as we were leaving the plane after landing. Not unusual at all but he was loudly discussing the security and passwords of a company he worked for. I was soooooo tempted to tap him on the shoulder and ask, "Can I have that password again?"
 
Common courtesy, common sense, common decency, and politeness aren't so common anymore. Pop culture has deemed them uncool and out of date.
 
Couldn't agree with the OP rant any more than the 100% I currently agree.
 
A well dressed woman came up to me at the car dealer. Mine was getting serviced, she was just getting hers back after bad accident. She said she had been talking on her cell phone and run into the back of another car at a stop light. The other woman had gone to the hospital and was suing her. She said, " take my advise, don't talk on your phone when driving!" Ahhhhmen! Common sense rears its head.
 
The funny thing is that this exact conversation occurred this morning at the gym just prior to spin class. One of the ladies was admonishing the instructor (who she knew personally outside of the class) for texting his mom while he was having a conversation with her.

I think it depends on the situation. Let's say I'm standing at the bar having a few cold ones with my homies (and home girls). We all have our phones. We all check them on a periodic basis. If I'm conversating on a one on one basis I'll leave the phone alone, but during a natural break, I'll check my email or whatever. Same thing with lunch. If I'm sociating face to face I'll leave the phone alone, but again when the conversation breaks I might pick my phone up. No harm, no foul. If I'm in a meeting (f*** I hate meetings) I'll fidget with my damn phone out of SPITE, just to show my distaste for meetings.
 
Talking on the phone when driving. it is no different than talking to any one riding in the car. It requires less attention to answer my phone while driving than tuning the radio. My phone is a hands free device, and has a speaker. it sets in a holder and only requires a touch of a button to answer.
Being rude is simply being rude in any form, the phone is simply another way to be rude.

Yesterday at the market, I saw this woman with three kids all of them running around raising hell, while she held up the check out line by taking on her phone, and not realizing she was next.
 
I know what you're saying. I wish everyone would.....hang on, I'm getting a phone call. I'll finish my reply in a sec.
 
It's one thing on a cashier which really doesn't require much interaction, but boy it's really annoying and gums up the work at places like Subway where you have to interact with the staff about what you want on your sandwich.
 
Got the new bike registered with the state yesterday. Had someone pull out right in front of me, not unusual in the least these days. New bike has the uumpff to get around, no biggie. I look over and of course the driver is yanking on a phone.

Used to be I had to take evasive action on the bike once a month. Now its once a day, and more often than not the drivers are yakking on or looking at a phone.
 
asechrest said:
I know what you're saying. I wish everyone would.....hang on, I'm getting a phone call. I'll finish my reply in a sec.
Click to expand...

My first laugh of the day, thanks, now hang up and live the life around you.
 
:devil:For a small fee, cash only, I can build you a gadget that shuts down all phones in a 100' radius. :devil:
It looks exactly like a flip phone, so it's essentially "invisible" to everyone around you. Just take it out, pretend to talk, and push the "nuke" button.


No name, no location, no idea what you're talking about.
 
ScottK said:
Manners, etiquette, respect! Do these not exist anymore?
Click to expand...
These things change with the times. People don't get offended as easily.

ScottK said:
Standing in line at a convenience store, I saw the clerk (mid-checkout) pick up her phone and start texting. And strangely, nobody but me seemed to notice or mind. I ask her if her boss is aware she does that, she gave me a dirty look and slammed her phone down on the counter. Then I got a sarcastic "have a nice day". I will be speaking to the manager next time through.
Click to expand...
You're one of those guys.:lol: I agree that texting while waiting on a customer is impolite and unprofessional (even a 7-11 clerk should act professional). But I wouldn't go complaining to a manager, especially if it didn't happen to me, and I just saw it happen to somebody in line.

ScottK said:
At another store, I saw a customer continue their conversation about last night's ballgame while checking out. He was completely engrossed in his own world with no respect for the lady that was helping him. And these aren't all young people either. I see just as many adults doing the same thing.
Click to expand...
Was the customer holding up the line? If the customer continues to talk but still hand the cashier the money and even say "Thank you" I see no problem with that. I have gone into a fast food place or deli and ordered while on the phone with somebody. But if the customer is talking and the cashier is asking him something and he's ignoring and holding up the line, that's another story.

ScottK said:
I was at a restaurant the other day and watched a family of 4 sit down, order, eat and leave with little more than a word or two of interaction. All four (dad, mom and two teenage daughters) spent the entire dinner staring at their phones. And I'm not exaggerating. There weren't more than 3 or 4 words said by any of them.
Click to expand...
I noticed that we have become very judgmental these days. If people don't want to talk, why does that bother you? :confused:
 
Anthony said:
Common courtesy, common sense, common decency, and politeness aren't so common anymore. Pop culture has deemed them uncool and out of date.
Click to expand...

Yeah, all those kids back in the late 60's and early 70's were all so well behaved, decent and polite. :rofl:

As (I believe it was) Shakespeare said: "history remembers with advantage."

Tom-D said:
Talking on the phone when driving. it is no different than talking to any one riding in the car. It requires less attention to answer my phone while driving than tuning the radio. My phone is a hands free device, and has a speaker. it sets in a holder and only requires a touch of a button to answer.
Click to expand...

Studies have proven you wrong.
 
91sn32Q.jpg
 
We don't own our cellphones.

They own us.


Dan
 
There's no place it bothers me more than the movies. This prick next to me wouldn't quit texting when I took my wife out last weekend, even though I'd asked him to several times. Oddly, it didn't seem to bother his date.
 
orange said:
You're one of those guys.:lol: I agree that texting while waiting on a customer is impolite and unprofessional (even a 7-11 clerk should act professional). But I wouldn't go complaining to a manager, especially if it didn't happen to me, and I just saw it happen to somebody in line.
Click to expand...

Not sure what "one of those guys" means, but I can guess. And yes, I was 3rd in line and she was holding me up. As for talking to the manager, it was more about her rude response than the texting thing.

orange said:
Was the customer holding up the line? If the customer continues to talk but still hand the cashier the money and even say "Thank you" I see no problem with that. I have gone into a fast food place or deli and ordered while on the phone with somebody. But if the customer is talking and the cashier is asking him something and he's ignoring and holding up the line, that's another story.
Click to expand...

Yes, he was holding up the line and at a very busy time.

orange said:
I noticed that we have become very judgmental these days. If people don't want to talk, why does that bother you? :confused:
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The restaurant thing was more of an observation. I can't imagine sitting with my wife and daughter in a restaurant and not saying a word for 45 minutes. I guess I found that odd.


I just don't understand why people have so little regard for each other anymore. Ok, maybe it's just me...
 
Shepherd said:
:devil:For a small fee, cash only, I can build you a gadget that shuts down all phones in a 100' radius. :devil:
It looks exactly like a flip phone, so it's essentially "invisible" to everyone around you. Just take it out, pretend to talk, and push the "nuke" button.


No name, no location, no idea what you're talking about.
Click to expand...


I'm in.
 
timwinters said:
Yeah, all those kids back in the late 60's and early 70's were all so well behaved, decent and polite. :rofl:
Click to expand...

Did they have cell phones/hand held computers in the 60's and 70's, because that is the topic of the thread. Studies have shown that you know.
 
i'll join the rant and add: the guy(its usually a guy for some reason) walking around in close proximity to other humans talking to his bluetooth earpiece. 'you talking to me?' oh, no, you're just an @#$@.

ever notice those hanging on someone's ear, and they're not even using it, they just wear it around, like a fashion accessory or something. i don't get that either.
 
Anthony said:
Did they have cell phones/hand held computers in the 60's and 70's, because that is the topic of the thread. Studies have shown that you know.
Click to expand...
The statement I was responding to had nothing to do with cellphones, rather it was a general indictment of today's society & youth from seemingly an angry old man.
 
darn whipper snappers and their dag nabbit handheld computer gizmos, queue Yosemite Sam grumbling noises....
 
timwinters said:
Yeah, all those kids back in the late 60's and early 70's were all so well behaved, decent and polite. :rofl:

As (I believe it was) Shakespeare said: "history remembers with advantage."



Studies have proven you wrong.
Click to expand...

Yet the NHTSA data shows that the during the time period when cellphone usage went from nada to dang-near-everyone-is-using-one-while-driving the accident rate stayed flat or went down slightly. (caveat the data is from before texting became prevalent)

I used accident rate to avoid skewing results because of better driver protection (e.g., airbags) and medical advances (if any)..
 
Earlier this year, one of my employees got angry at her boyfriend, decided to jump out of a moving car and was drug 100 feet. It was not pretty, major skin grafts and broken bones. She was lucky to even survive, was unconscious for several days and it took months for her to be able to even walk again. She asked for us to hold her job until she recovered. We usually run at a skeleton crew as it is, but I felt compassion and found a person who was willing to fill in until she returned, so I held it for her for 3 long months.

We kept in contact with her and she said she was counting down the days until she could come back. One of my employees then discovered a Facebook post saying that the injured employee had a long day on her feet for 9 hours. We called her to find out what was going on, but no response. Eventually she texted saying "uh yeah, sorry but I found a new job."

And that my friends gives some insight into the future generation that will be running this country. No loyalty, no decency, no morality.
 
This is part of the reason I stopped mentoring the local Youngmakers group. I was trying to teach the kids how to wire up a wheelchair controller and one of them would not stop texting. That in itself would not have been a deal-killer. The deal-killer was his mom defending him when I asked him to stop.
 
Geico266 said:
:yes:


I miss Henning. He would be able to tell us why people are like this now and add a pitch for hydrogen energy. :rolleyes2:
Click to expand...
Just cut and paste any of his 50,000 posts and it'll be like deja vu all over again. :rolleyes:
 
Shepherd said:
:devil:For a small fee, cash only, I can build you a gadget that shuts down all phones in a 100' radius. :devil:
Click to expand...
Seriously? I want one. There used to be a gadget called the TV-Be-Gone. It was a universal remote so you could shut off TVs in public places like hospital waiting rooms. IIRC, it was $12.
 
Becky said:
Seriously? I want one. There used to be a gadget called the TV-Be-Gone. It was a universal remote so you could shut off TVs in public places like hospital waiting rooms. IIRC, it was $12.
Click to expand...

Yes the gadget exists, yes it works.
It's also a felony to have one in your possession, but what's jail time compared to be able to eat a meal or watch a movie in silence.

;)
 
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