WOULD YOU PLEASE PUT YOUR CELLPHONE AWAY, AND FORGET THE PLEASE PART. I DON'T MEAN IT.
What has happened to humans? Cell phones happened. And it's bad.
I'm from an era where if you needed to make a call you had to have a dime, a quarter, or a phone card and you found a pay phone. Which was not difficult as they were ubiquitous. If you were lucky you found an actual phone booth where you could make your call from, with a little privacy. Kind of. But you did have to deal with the occasional booth that was used as a urine receptacle. Oh did I say occasional? Sorry. No occasional here. They were all urine receptacles.
The phone booth era was particularly interesting as it taught you some things about life. If you were lucky enough or unlucky enough to find an actual booth, a person had to employ some protection techniques in defense against the dregs of society who tend to use them.
Technique #1: Maybe always keep napkins in your car because you never know with whom or where the phone receiver had been. Lots of stuff happened in those booths!
Technique #2: The straddle technique. You had to employ this particular technique if the person using said booth as a urinal was the kind of person who usually soaks the whole toilet when urinating. It just stands to reason that this type of individual (or animal) in an attempt to mark their territory would employ the spray technique so as to mark as much of THEIR phone booth as possible. This is where the straddle technique is particularly useful. This technique required the caller to spread their feet as wide as possible to either side of the booth so as not to stand in the middle, where most of the DNA of the urinator (if that is a word) has probably collected.
Technique #3: The Lean in Technique. This one was used when the inside of the booth was so bad you couldn't go in but you had to make your call. You lean in and grab the receiver and make your call as best you can from the outside.
In the event that none of the techniques would protect you from the animals and the elements, you would just get back in your car, fuck the call, and put on the radio, 8-track, cassette player or whatever mode of listening to music you had at the time and drive, with the confidence that no one is going to hit you while they are texting. They may hit you for other reasons, but not texting or talking on the phone.
THEN CELL PHONES ARRIVED...
Yes, they have become extremely convenient, I won't deny that. But do you see the other problems cell phones have brought with them? Everyone lives in their own bubble now. People now have become oblivious to what is going on around them. A bomb could go off and the guy texting is not even going to look up from his phone. Cell phones have basically become a way of life for people, and also a status symbol much the same as cars have. People text or scroll while walking, and driving.
When I see someone texting while walking I like to position myself directly in front of them purposely, so if they don't look up we will run into each other, because I'M NOT DEVIATING from my path. Yeah I can be a real dick sometimes. And when they do finally look up they act a little startled, step to the side, and resume exactly what they were doing. These Fucking inhuman robots.
I was in a cafe and a family of four came in. Husband, wife, and two kids. When they sat down at the table, all devices immediately came out. Well actually, they were already out because people go everywhere and do everything with their phones in their hands.
No one talked to each other. Just took care of their own business on their phone. Pathetic. And these kids were not even ten years old. The kids probably weren't texting, but watching TV. Cell phones are also babysitters! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!
I'm a musician and I know what good sound is. And these phones do not have good speakers, yet people watch movies, listen to music, and carry on conversations on speaker phone. It sounds horrible. Please do not subject everyone around you to the punishment of having to listen to your speaker phone conversations, or your music of choice. It is quite inconsiderate, especially if your taste in music sucks!
Once again on a different day, I was out in a restaurant and a guy one table over was eating his meal and had his phone propped up against something so he could watch TV. And he had the volume up so that everyone could hear. How thoughtful of him. See, people can be so nice. Thanks dude! So I made it a point to stare over at him. (I didn't like what he was watching, by the way.) He sheepishly turned down the volume when he saw me staring. Well at least he got the message. Gotta give him credit for that, but he went right on watching his beloved program.
WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO READING?
Yes, Cell Phones provide a very easy convenient form of entertainment, but do you need entertainment at all hours of the day? Can't you watch TV only at home anymore? Oh yeah, I forgot. People now have thousands of channels available to them at home making it virtually impossible to pick just one. One more thing, this was in Mexico and all of the above communication was done non verbally. Who says you have to speak the language? An asshole, (me) is an asshole no matter what country they are in. And an inconsiderate noise maker, is an inconsiderate noise maker no matter what country they are in.
And what the fuck is with the selfies, and pictures of food? Holy Fuck! It's the "hey look at me and what I'm doing" era. The award winner was at the gym I used to frequent. This girl was sitting on a machine and she would take selfies posing in front of her phone and making little model faces, pouty lips, and constantly fucking with her hair. That was truly pathetic. Her work-out didn't seem that strenuous. Although it did preclude others from using the machine while she was in the middle of her photo shoot.
And what about the people who absolutely need to answer the phone every time it rings, no matter where they are. If anybody does that when they are out with me, their phone will be thrown as far as I can throw it! And I've got a pretty good arm.
GONNA STOP MY RANTING NOW. I COULD GO ON FOREVER
In closing, I do believe Cell Phones are a necessary evil. But they are being abused. Steve Jobs wanted every household to have a computer and he wanted that computer to be the hub of all of the technology. He was successful in that.
Well now it has been broken down to an even smaller scale. The Cell Phone is now the hub of all of the technology, and social media, and all things communication. I don't know if he would agree with what "I" think is abuse of the technology, but I don't believe Cell Phones should be allowed to come between human interaction. Cell Phones have made people, at least in my view, seem unaware and totally out of it, and basically kind of dumb. And I believe human interaction is in jeopardy.
These days humans love to have a screen in front of them. They can just watch without thinking. Thinking has become a rare commodity. You can't go to the movies everyday. You can't watch TV all day. It's not healthy. "The Screen" impedes people's ability to think for themselves. With "The Screen" everything, all information, is served up to you in seconds! Doesn't matter that it might be the wrong information, but it now comes to you. You no longer have to research and seek information out in an analog way and learn through your research. The answers, right or wrong, are on your "screen."
People have always believed what they see on the tv or movie screen, or in the form of commercials. And it has gotten exponentially worse. Now "The Screen" can be taken with you in your pocket, along with all social media and propaganda. Please don't let these devices take over your lives. They were initially meant for quick communication.
And please don't force everyone around you to listen to your conversation or your music. Thank you.