Reply or don't, read and roll your eyes, it is all good. I just need to vent, and I've already vented enough to myself. I need an audience, even a faceless one on the internet. So tonight I went to the movies and saw Baby Driver. OK movie I guess. But during the previews, a woman a few seats over from me was on her phone. Even though they splashed two big "Please don't be on your cell phones during the movie, it is distracting" messages. So I grit my teeth, and hope she'll put it down when the movie comes on. And thankfully she does. But you're at the movies. What could possibly be so important you need to be on it during the movie or previews? That you can't just step out? And this isn't the first time it has happened either. Or the only place. I've seen it happen at the theater and the symphony. And it isn't generational. I yelled at a woman in her 60s for being on her phone (looked like Facebook) during the performance. I was at the movies back home and as soon as it started I looked over and two young girls (preteens) were on their phones, their mom right next to them. I asked them to please put their phones away. So why? Why show such disrespect for the venue (which point blank tells you NOT to do it) and the audience around you? Do they simply not think about it? Is this just a cultural shift and I need to accept it? It blows my mind. And then I start feeling like the bad guy for getting worked up over it (and yeah, I probably shouldn't let it bother me that much), even though I really find that blue light (even dimmed) distracting. And once I notice it, I can't unnotice it and it just draws my eye. But I shouldn't have to feel like this. I show respect to everyone else. Why can't they show respect? Are we so absorbed with technology in our lives that we have to tweet and snap and facebook and instagram and whatever else people do? I just don't get it.
Generational I'm thinking. Although I've seen guys my age(62) walking around with ball caps turned backwards(my pet peeve). If it's not generational then it may be societal. Either way it's not good IMHO.
My 70 year old mother in-law is glued to her iPhone or iPad like a 14 year old girl. I find it disturbing.
I'll add my own experience to this. My pet peeve - people walking into my store with the phone glued to their ear and who won't hang up and acknowledge my attempt to greet/engage in conversation with them. I've seen people do the same thing in other business settings as well. Restaurants, counters at convenience stores, grocery stores etc. When they walk in and I greet them and they ignore me because they can't hang up and conduct business.....I ignore them. I've had people finally walk up and ask me if I can help them or not, even while they just hold the phone down waiting to go back to the conversation. My answer? When you're off the phone I'll be happy to. And I let them decide what to do. I spent five years selling phones and encouraging people to buy smartphones and all the data and improve their lives. Sometimes I think I should be forced to serve time for my role in creating this society.
I have to agree with @gorgo2 People are getting worse and worse with phones. Ever watch the movie "Wall-E"?? That's not far off
Don't even get me started on what constitutes news these days. Who is marrying who or what this celeb thinks, or what she was wearing, or the latest viral video... When I see a head line about a video going viral for someone doing a good deed, it makes me wonder if this is what society has come to where we have to celebrate people doing the right thing instead of expecting it.
Its ok to vent. I want to vent also. I use to go to the movies as a kid and it was an event. People dressed up or at least didn't dress like a hobo. Nowadays folks wear just about anything. The price of the movie has really gone up and the prices on popcorn and drinks are obscene. The wife and I have taken to sneaking it in because we just can't go $30-40 for a couple drinks, popcorn and candy. Commercials in the theater? For AT&T, progressive and life insurance? Then a few previews including one for the movie I just paid $12 to see! I have been avoiding watching the previews because I don't want to see the spoilers. The movie starts about 15 minutes late. So where were we? Oh yea. I am looking at my phone because I don't want to see any of the crap on the screen until the movie I paid to see comes on. Please excuse the minor annoyance. I promise to turn it off once the movie starts. But during "TV" style commercials? Yea, I would rather check gun forums. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I never get irritated with people in the movies until the actual movie starts because, yes, there's a whole lot of garbage beforehand. Kids talking, people getting seated, checking a last minute text, yeah I can live with it. When the actual picture starts, though, I become a very irritable bear if that doesn't come to an end so everyone can enjoy the movie. I'm also the husband who can't stand it when my wife asks me a question or comments on the movie to me while we're watching in the theater. That's rude to the other patrons. When my kids were younger? I made sure they knew the rules, even if the ones around us didn't. I figure if I want people to act the right way during a movie, or concert, or other such gathering, I better do the same. If I don't then I'm the one who deserves the hateful stares and reproaches.
I apologize in advance for being a bit crude but I have an observation and will keep the crudity to the bare minimum. About 12-15 years ago, on some website I now can't recall, we were discussing people becoming entirely wrapped up in the internet, apparently more so than they had been with TV. I made a wry joke, absurdly yet only half seriously, that there are people who would gladly pay to regularly watch a TV show about nothing but celebrity bowel movements. Today, tacky clickbait ads and vulgar headlines alone suggest I am 100% correct that this could really happen, but more people than we would like to think would tune in, because things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Apologies. Out.
As one of those belonging to the younger crowd, I can understand why they do it. This does not, however, mean I like it. Checking the cellphone becomes an addiction, quite literally, with all the Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. One person can distract themselves in so many ways they feel obligated to check their status when one of their "friends" posts an image, message or video. They take no thought to those around them, which is quite rude. They simply haven't learned otherwise. In my college class, there is a kid that sits next to me who doesn't look up from his phone during two and a half hours of class time. He is literally wasting hundreds of dollars by failing this course because of his own lack of attention span. Thus seeing kids waste $5-10 on a movie ticket isn't surprising in perspective. All said, I think standing up and telling them to turn off their phones is the right thing to do. Believe me, many other people will be grateful when you do! And who knows, maybe they'll start to take a hint. Or maybe they'll just post a message about you on Snapchat. Either way, you'll have tried making the world a better place, so take solace in that!
I didn't get my first "smart phone" until 2010 I think. And then it was what I called a dumb smart phone. It had a touch screen, and you could do some basic things with it but it was crude. I kept that until 2013, when it was giving me issues and I finally settled on a Samsung Galaxy. I've moved on, but I still don't do much with it. Sure, it is nice having the camera and great for navigating, but I don't tweet, or facebook on it, or even play games really. I have a few on it, but they don't see much action. I did try Ingress and Pokemon GO, but when I was out on a trail one day playing trying to find a point and I looked up and stopped because there were some deer in front of me, I realized I was missing out. I guess if you were out strictly playing those games it is different, but still. Well don't worry, as we've seen in this thread it isn't generational. I guess if I had followers who were interested in what I was eating I might be checking my phone all the time too. Alas, I'm just not that popular.
