I do not understand modern society. A mobile phone has reached far more importance than it really deserves. Maybe if I were a 15 year old female, and my phone was the only valuable thing I owned. A mindset where my social life would crash if the right boy did not call me. But I am a 74 year old male. It is JUST a electronic communicator for godsake ! Marketing people have got people's heads all screwed up. Leave me a text message and I'll call you if I want to. I went out for the day and forgot my phone again. ...J.D.
I'm with you but for not exactly the same reasons, having a job for a good many years where you are expected to be at the end of a phone 24 hours a day all year round. Your phone starts going most days 6am ish and its a good day if it stops by 21.30 and each and every call and text is usually bad news or a problem. The hour a day that i "forgot" it whilst out with the dogs became sanctuary. These days where i no longer have that job means i rarely take my phone out of the house and seeing these stooped figures not watching where they are going or seeing whats around them just makes me feel sorry for them. I have found that people dont take kindly to advice while they are on the 'phone though, they seem to very often take offence in supermarkets if you tell them "just make a decision yourself you are in my way" if they are on the 'phone asking for advice as to which to get, "broccoli or cauliflower?", "salt and vinegar or cheese and onion?"
Thankfully I am retired. I answered calls for help for many decades. I was a Maintenance Engineer in commercial highrise buildings all over Southern California. My last job before retirement was working for the State of California Dept. of General Services. If anything breaks, I was one of the guys they called, either by mobile phone or by Walkie-Talkie. After I retired, I would not even own a mobile phone for a few years. I still look at a phone as a tool to communicate, not a toy to play with. ...J.D.
I have to say, I can't believe how lackadaisical these kids are about these things. They are wandering around with a grands worth of technology in their pocket and they don't give a shit. I've got three grown up step-daughters who have all got smart phones, obviously, but all of them have smashed screens! I don't know what the hell they do with the bloody things. We have never paid for any of their phones but loads of parents do. I often see 11 or 12 year kids wandering about with an i-phone X or whatever in their hand. Bloody ridiculous.
The funny reaction I get is when I whip out my phone to check a text or something when in a crowd of friends. "Is THAT you phone?". What the h#77, It still works ! I haven't spent one minute of the last 11 1/2 years earning a living. I got to that point by not being wasteful. When it quits working or is no longer compatible with the systems in place, I'll throw it in the trash and buy a new one ! It is not a fashion accessory. I cannot remember. It is somewhere around 9-10 years old ! . ...J.D.
