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Cell phones: Is a day of reckoning coming?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Story_Idea, Sep 3, 2012.

  1. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    I take my phone everywhere. I use it at dinner, when watching TV. Basically, all the time. Except while at work since I don't get service at my desk. But I'll run downstairs every few hours to check it for voicemails, texts, emails, etc.

    If I'm eating dinner, I have no problem checking it if someone texts or something. If the people I'm eating with don't like it, get the fuck up and eat somewhere else. I can do what I'm doing and still listen to your awful small talk at the same time.

    I love when I'm stumped about something -- what movie was that guy in? what time does Walgreens close? -- and being able to find the answer in 30 seconds. If that's part of a discussion at dinner, you bet your ass I'm looking it up right then and there.

    Then again, people being pissed off at my phone use (during dinner or otherwise) is rarely, if ever, an issue since most everyone I know is the same way.
     
  2. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Then why bother going out together at all? Why not just eat at home and text one another if that's what you're actually doing anyway?

    This is the behavior Generation H doesn't understand.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 1, 2015
  3. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    It's not like I'm CONSTANTLY on the phone, never looking up. But I don't ignore it, either. Big difference.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 1, 2015
  4. Bamadog

    Bamadog Well-Known Member

    My wife and I noticed that we'd go out to dinner and both of us would be staring at our phones periodically. We both decided that putting them away, at least during dinner, would be a great idea. Like anything, a smart phone has its uses, but it can be misused as well.

    Put the damn thing away and experience life. And if that's the limit of the aspirations of the younger generation, cripes. I'll stick with my dreams of a BMW M3 or a Cadillac CTS-V, car-wise, and a nice house in a nice neighborhood with granite countertops and a big kitchen with lots of counter space. It's just a phone.
     
  5. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    I don't get how checking my phone during dinner means I'm not "experiencing life."

    I can understand someone getting a little irritated if the person they're eating with is non-stop on their phone during dinner and just murdering any chance of good conversation or something. But checking periodically? I don't see the big deal. Maybe you people are having more in-depth conversations that require a great deal of focus than I do. Certainly possible.
     
  6. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    "Checking" your phone for what, exactly?
     
  7. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    1. Phone call, in which case I'd hear it and not check for it.
    2. Text.
    3. IM.
    4. Email, especially if I'm expecting something in particular.
    5. Scores.
    6. Twitter, in certain cases.

    And people are right when they say "Can't it just wait until after dinner?" Typically, yes, it can. But also, it doesn't hurt anyone or cause anyone to miss out on the true life experience, whatever that is, if you check it every now and then. Not every 5 seconds, mind you. But occasionally.
     
  8. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member


    So - excepting a time-sensitive email from work - you're essentially checking for a better conversation than the one you're having with your dinner partners.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 1, 2015
  9. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    That, too.

    Although, during breakfast beers on Saturday, I was too busy experiencing life and I missed a very important message on my phone. Dammit! :)
     
  10. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't I do both? Are you going to be THAT pissed that I'm not looking you dead in the eyes while you talk? Does it ruin your shit when people aren't paying complete attention to you at all times? How bout you just keep talking and I'll listen while I'm checking to see if the Nats won again?

    You settling some world crisis over dinner?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 1, 2015
  11. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member


    Again, why bother going to dinner?

    Why is the Nats score more important than anything I might be saying to you? You agreed to go out, right?

    How about if we go out to dinner and I read a magazine most of the time?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 1, 2015
  12. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    And again, you're acting like I'm saying that I'm on the phone the entire night, never once looking up. It takes roughly 20 seconds to check the Nats score. If that bothers you so much, well, I don't know what to tell you.

    And typically, yes. The Nats score would be more important that what you might be saying to me. FOR 20 WHOLE SECONDS!! THE HORROR!!!!
     
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