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Still Smarting
I've been outsmarted by my SmartPhone,
outmaneuvered, outdone, and outmanned.
Luckily, I've a SmartWife and SmartChild,
a SmartFamily will always see you through
-- unless you let yourself be Dumbed Down.
Friends, welcome to Civilization for Dummies.
Chrstopher T. George
Nice one Chris. I borrowed Yabuks phone last week. It's a stupid touch screen thing. I never had a clue how it worked. They made me get rid of my phone cos it was an embarrasment.
Hi PabsQuote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
I don't have a Smartphone so I am just riffing off the idea of having one. My cameraphone is sophisticated enough and I can't figure out everything it can do and I don't really want to know everything it does. I see these people on the Marc Train between Baltimore and D.C. fiddling with their Blackberries, and just have to tell myself how daft and time consuming it all is. . . And don't get me started on texting. . . particularly while driving which absolutely boggles my mind -- such people deserve to be slung in the slammer and the key thrown away.
Chris
Yes, gotta agree with you on all your points. I haven't got a phone at present. I used to have a company phone but they took it off me to save money. The bill was ?200 per month. A tad excessive. Now I manage without one. Don't miss it at all. Folk complain they can't get in touch with me, but that suits me fine.
I don't have a mobile simply because I don't wanna look like the jerk the other day picking at a stonewall while he had the phone rammed up against his ear...more to the point I don't want to be disturbed whilst I'm out and about.
Yes, it's quite pleasant without the phone. When folk make arrangements, when you aint got a phone, they generally stick to the agreed times and meeting places. Used to get sick of the calls telling you they were running late. Hate that. I'm never late.Quote:
Originally Posted by George
You're just like me :PDT_Aliboronz_24: I don't have a mobile phone - never had one, and don't particularly want one. People complain they can't get in touch with me as well :Smiliz_Kingz_PDT_13Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
I'm notorious for ignoring the house phone when it rings !! :PDT_Xtremez_42:
.. and I certainly don't want a phone ringing me when I'm out and about.
I do that too. I never answer me phone.Quote:
Originally Posted by lindylou
I can never understand why people jump up from their meal and leave it to go cold, or jump out of the bath and run with a towel around to answer a bladdy phone !!Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
I just leave it.
I can quite happily sit beside a ringing phone and not 'wonder ' who it is :Smiliz_Kingz_PDT_13
I do that too. The girls go mad, they say aren't you gonna get that. I say I'm not expecting anyone. They get all their calls on their mobiles. The very same ones I pay for.Quote:
Originally Posted by lindylou
Mines been my life saver at times, you just never know how important the next call is. It's also got me work and enabled friends to meet up with me in town for a scoop or two and a gab. Wouldn't be without it.
Actually one of the things that annoys me is the power of "The Phone" even before the present mobile phone age. It seems that someone on "The Phone" gets more attention than someone who is right there in person, in the flesh, which appears to me to be a most ridiculous and absurd situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by lindylou
C
Exactly ! same here, - - I say, it's never for me - - or it will only be some pest anyway, or someone wantin' something !! lol ! :Smiliz_Kingz_PDT_13Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
Probably because that person right there can have your attention for the rest of the whole time whereas the person on the phone only has those minutes when they've rang you and they mightn't have known you were with someone so unless you ignore the phone because you can see who is calling you and ring them back, then it might be someone you've been waiting on. As long as you're polite to the person you're with and say excuse me a minute please I don't see the problem.
One thing I hate is when someone takes a call and leaves you sitting there like a lemon, and twiddle your thumbs while they talk away. I think it's very rude. Like someone not switching off the telly when you visit.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisGeorge
First thing I do when we have a visitor is switch of the tv or radio - and if I get a phone call that I can't ignore, I politely ask to get back to them - - or at least take the call in another room and be as quick as poss. ( but mostly I just ignore any phone ringing !! ha,ha, 'specially if I have a guest who I want to talk to more importantly)
My husband needs his phone for work - for business. His clients can always contact his mobile.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ged
I always say, if something is really that important the person will ring you again later. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ged
Hi GedQuote:
Originally Posted by Ged
I think the annoying situation arises in that the Guest who is told "excuse me a minute please" is kept waiting for more than a minute or two, left sitting there like a bump on a log. Sure there are more pressing problems in this life although I do find that this is one of those aggravating situations that we have to endure.
Chris
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindylou
Possibly but what if it was one of my girls in distress in town early hours...
Somebody wanting to book a job, they'd just go to the next person on their list
Say you were awaiting a job after attending an interview, they might consider it rude that you leave them a number that you don't then answer - rudeness can work other ways too - then you lose the job to someone who can be contacted.
I hate it when I can't get my contacts by mobile as the whole idea of them is being always contactable - I say 'when is a mobile not a mobile - why I can't ever bladdy get you on it'.... :rolleyes:
I'm with you on that Ged - if your offspring are away from home - out somewhere, if I know they might be needing a lift home, or to let you know they are ok, I would of course answer the phone in that case.
If I knew I had to expect a call - say for a job or something - then I would be more aware and listen out for the phone :) .. or like when my dad was in and out of hozzy - I always picked up the phone in case it was something important. But there are lots of other times when I know the phone is just another pester :) and I happily ignore it.
I've pretty much stopped using the best Chinese take-away in my area - less than 150 yards from the close I live in. You can be standing there and they'll interupt taking your order to answer the phone - they do deliveries. They may answer the phone several times in the course of you placing your order - and all of those phone orders are passed to the kitchen before yours, even though you were there before the phone rang.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ged
You then wait and watch all these shipping orders going out and you're still waiting. Not any more I'm not. I saw the owner in Tesco a few weeks ago and she mentioned she hadn't seen me in a while. I told her why and she said that if they didn't answer the phone quickly then the customer rings off and they lose the business. I told her that if the business is so valuable she should have someone answering the phone who isn't in the middle of dealing personally with customers.
It's not just me - several friends have told me they've also lost patience with the place.
Businesses who wish to leave me in limbo whilst they answer the phone are perfectly entitled to do so - but by the time they hang up I'll be long gone. If they don't want my money there are plenty of competitors that do.
Bah humbug!
Ring them with your order then :)
I do with ours but only so it's ready when I go to collect it if its meals. I whizz in and out as others in the queue stand there ha ha.
Hi Kevin
This isn't quite akin to the gripe you have about the takeout place, although maybe it is. Just over year ago when I went up to New York City to give a military history tour, I inadvertently left my cell phone charger plugged into the wall.
In trying to find a Sprint phone store where I could get a replacement charger, eventually when I located a Sprint phone store where I could buy a charger -- a store where I had previously bought a phone having been closed -- and I happened to have my 89-year-old mother waiting in the car, I was told to wait my turn by the young man who was the go-between between the customers and the sales staff.
Well, the thing is, the charger was right there waiting to be bought if I could just buy it, most of the other customers being there to buy new phones and not accessories. I lost my rag over it and demanded to be helped. Luckily, the staff acceded to the request and I was attended to, walking away with the charger in no time. Aaaaargh.
Chris
I use the place on a Friday night mostly - as I pass it while walking back from the pub. I could always ring them from the pub and pick up my order on the way past. But I won't - anyone who can't sort out customer service problems doesn't deserve my business.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ged
I've just got a thing about bad service now and always vote with my feet.
Good on yer then :)
They only deliver to ours if the order is over ?8 but there's that many of us always getting something or other that I have an understanding with them that they'll deliver to me no matter how small the order or they won't get my big orders which at weekends with the girls boyfriends and mates there and some other family members can run into 20 odd/30 odd pounds.
I've started using an Indian take-away from about 2 miles down the road. It isn't quick, always 40 to 60 minutes, but the food is fresh and hot and they always include a few extras - a starter or two and some salad and dips. It usually costs about ?14 for the two of us but there's always enough food to feed three comfortably - and the food really is excellent.
I never give anyone my cellphone number. Only my family have it. I have it because I drive in some remote areas and would need it if i got stuck. I have the cheapest plan I could find, $15 a month for 150 mins. Unused mins. rolling over to the next month. right now i have 2346 mins. on it, so that tells you how much I use it.
My house 'phone has caller ID and I never answer unidentified calls.
Bernie. Just be careful that you can still get a signal in the remote areas. Even parts of Croxteth don't get me a signal and Burscough is like the black hole and that's on 02 - I know vodaphone and orange are the iffyest (is that a word) :)
Skem, Warrington and Runcorn are bad areas too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ged
Coverage is good over here, just a few places not covered. It is on the Verizon network, one of the biggest in the USA.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ged
In October, I was in Warrenpoint and Rostrevor, across Carlingford Lough from the Republic of Ireland, and the phone kept thinking I was in the Republic, with the result that any UK phone number I wanted to call, including those in Northern Ireland, I had to dial as if I was calling from the Republic. :rolleyes:
Chris
Just to hike the charges Chris.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisGeorge