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How did we ever manage w/o cell phones?

TheRoadDog
TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
edited March 3 in Chit-Chat
I'm not sure how I was able to manage the first 50 years of my life without a Cell phone.

And, beacause I didn't grow up with them, I can't seem to utilize mine to it's fullest capacity.

I've never taken a selfie. Try as I may, in front of the mirror, I can't seem to get that duck face mastered.

My fingers are too fat to text, so I have speak to the person next to me, rather than text them back. It takes them a minute to discover my inadequacy before they lower their cell phone and speak to me directly. I know it makes them uneasy, but what can I do.

Wish there was a function that would connect me to the person nearest me, so that I could get their attention as they drift from their lane to mine. But, then again, they will probably hit me anyways before my fat fingers could tap out a warning.

When I am out to dinner with some of my younger friends, I just have to sit there, eat, and watch them communicate with each other.

I'm so embarrased and feel so inadequate.
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Replies

  • DBoone85
    DBoone85 Posts: 916 Member

    I'm so embarrased and feel so inadequate.


    There are natural male supplements that you can get over the counter now. You should try them.
  • WreckaRed
    WreckaRed Posts: 116 Member
    Do you like my duck face in my profile pic? haha Hopefully people don't think I am seriously trying to look like that. My son and I were making faces. Cell phones are great. Smart phones are the end of face to face interaction as we used to know it.
  • ink_b1tch
    ink_b1tch Posts: 101
    I may be a little old fashion I guess, but cell phones do not even enter into the kitchen during family meal times or homework times. My kids charge their phones in the family room not their bedrooms. We have a fire pit out back, it is a no cell phone zone. You must set limitations. This can even be done with "younger" friends, Make a joke out of it...something dorky like "my fingers are broken today do you think we can use a brand new way to communicate....Look at each other, open mouth, speak, laugh, listen, enjoy and interact. The fat finger thing....get ya a Stylist (pen looking thing with a rubber on its end)....If all else fails bring a deck of cards and set a game of solitare up till dinner comes!
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    Do you like my duck face in my profile pic? haha Hopefully people don't think I am seriously trying to look like that. My son and I were making faces. Cell phones are great. Smart phones are the end of face to face interaction as we used to know it.

    My 8 yr-old cell phone finally gave up last week. I went out and got a new cell phone. Smart Phone. Brought it home, charged it, turned it off and put it in my lunch bag.

    The next morning I got up and my Smart Phone was sitting on the counter. It had a picture of the family as a background on it and it was laying on a note from my 20 yr-old daughter. She had put the pic on, put a message on it for people that called, she had set me up with a Google email address. She listed the email adress, told me my password to use it and also created a password for calling voice mail. She had also put FB for me on there.

    I put it back in my lunch bag. Got home that night and she askled why I didn't answer any of her texts or check out her FB updates.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member

    I'm so embarrased and feel so inadequate.


    There are natural male supplements that you can get over the counter now. You should try them.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    iPhone 5s. Flip around camera for selfies and voice text. FIFY. No one should be forced to speak directly to the person next to them like some sort of peasant! :happy:
  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
    Call me an old fogey (which I am) but I preferred the land line phones.
  • WelshPhil1975
    WelshPhil1975 Posts: 138 Member
    I have fully bought in to the phone generation (I had mine before they were marketed to the masses so I was already a veteran by the time the kids got their mitts on them) but there's one thing I have always refused to partake in - text speak.

    I refuse to use lol, rotfl, m8, etc, I don't even know what a great number of them mean.

    And my selfies are ruined by the fact that I am in them, so I don't take many.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
    I'm not sure how I was able to manage the first 50 years of my life without a Cell phone.

    And, beacause I didn't grow up with them, I can't seem to utilize mine to it's fullest capacity.

    I've never taken a selfie. Try as I may, in front of the mirror, I can't seem to get that duck face mastered.

    My fingers are too fat to text, so I have speak to the person next to me, rather than text them back. It takes them a minute to discover my inadequacy before they lower their cell phone and speak to me directly. I know it makes them uneasy, but what can I do.

    Wish there was a function that would connect me to the person nearest me, so that I could get their attention as they drift from their lane to mine. But, then again, they will probably hit me anyways before my fat fingers could tap out a warning.

    When I am out to dinner with some of my younger friends, I just have to sit there, eat, and watch them communicate with each other.

    I'm so embarrased and feel so inadequate.




    I love this. ^^^ I have a Jitterbug cell phone, lighted face, big numbers, 24-hr. help line. No photos, apps, video, any of that, just takes calls in and makes calls out. I use it when I'm off the farm alone, in case I need to call for help or to get a message about picking up something. When I'm at home, it's turned off. I think I rack up maybe 5 minutes a month, if that. I feel free......
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • ashleydawndill
    ashleydawndill Posts: 242 Member
    I'm beginning to dislike smartphones more and more lately. I'm 23 and my generation is full of phone-addicts. If we go out to eat, naturally a picture has to be taken of the food before it's touched (hashtag foodporn). You can't just sit around and talk anymore, everyone's always glued to their phones. I'm guilty of taking my share of selfies too, but it's more for fitness progress documentation (or the occasional "I feel pretty" day, hah).

    Regardless, the phone stays away when I'm in the company of others, out of respect. Why does no one else grant this privilege to me?? :sad:
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    This thread:

    oldercellphone.jpg
  • mygnsac
    mygnsac Posts: 13,413 Member
    That was sweet of your daughter setting it all up for you! Ah, I remember back in the day. No smart phones, or cell phones for that matter; no computers, mostly rotary phones, vinyl records, etc. I marvel at the advances we've made in such a short period of time, but at the same time it's sad seeing the younger generations become less and less engaged with those around them. We have an office where we hire college students and they just never look up from their electronic devices.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    This thread:

    oldercellphone.jpg
    lol! ^^



    45a6c4d1bbbcb503fa4a46e3763f41410d0a99e2a1ce61d427e97bb37e8c7d69.jpg
  • The_WoIverine
    The_WoIverine Posts: 367 Member
    My mom was terrified of smartphones. She would swear that pressing a button would cause WWIII. At least now she is using it... mainly to like pics on Instagram, look up videos on youtube and play candychrush... Oh and find out where my sister's at using the app to locate people LOL

    camera-phone.jpg
  • salembambi
    salembambi Posts: 5,585 Member
    my mom txts better than me

    but she ain't old tho so
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
    Meh.

    My smartphone has allowed me to forego watches, cameras, home internet, landlines and paper maps at a fraction of the price.

    If that's what the downfall of society looks like, then all I can say is "timberrrr!"
  • Oscarinmiami
    Oscarinmiami Posts: 326 Member
    lol...the Cellphone will be the end of humanity.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I think phone GPS's are the most amazing thing ever. No more driving around an unfamiliar city with a giant map spread out in my lap. :heart: :heart: :heart:
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    My husband and I are so old school about phones. He's only 33 and I'm 37, so most of our friends are heavily ensconced in the smartphone culture but we're over here like "I don't use apps" and stuff. I'm almost surprised we don't have a landline ;-)

    I had an iPhone for awhile and I thought it was fun, sorta like having a miniature & slightly less useful laptop in my purse at all times. But to me it wasn't worth the $100/month phone bill - at all - so I happily went right back to my "dumb phone". Did not miss the iPhone. I do find my cell phone handy, although mostly as an alarm clock!

    I could honestly live w/o a cell phone at all, no problem. In a way I'm kind of nostalgic about the days of being away from your phone and having to come home & check messages.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    Meh.

    My smartphone has allowed me to forego watches, cameras, home internet, landlines and paper maps at a fraction of the price.

    If that's what the downfall of society looks like, then all I can say is "timberrrr!"

    I will always use paper maps, especially the topographic kind. But, I get what you're saying. I've eliminated everything you mentioned but maps. Local, National, world news? On my phone. Weather? On my phone, Baseball & football games, On my phone. And, sometimes I get tired of all that noise and just put the phone away. We still have no device dinners around the table at our house. And we have no device weekends when we go camping.

    I'd be willing to bet in 5 years, actual television viewership will plummet to the point that cable carriers will have to drastically change how they do business. Why, we'll all be streaming stuff on our "devices"
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    My husband and I just got phones with a texting plan last year, but I would enjoy having a readily available source of instant information that I could take with me anywhere. I'd likely never get lost again while driving.

    I despise talking on the phone when I'm not at work (15 years as a switchboard operator does that to you), and I already know what I look like, so I don't take selfies.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
    I'm a baby boomer with 3 grown kids. I remember going out on dates with my husband and leaving the number of the restaurant or place we were going with the sitter and a white board with emergency numbers on the fridge. I remember going out on a jaunt all day when my kids were in school, and I had no cell phone with me. Now, a kid forgets his lunch and Mommy has to leave a grocery cart full of stuff in the market and run over to rescue him. All my children are alive and well. Now, if we leave the house without a cell phone, we feel as if there wil be some catastrophe and no one will be able to reach us.
  • LianaG1115
    LianaG1115 Posts: 453 Member

    I'm so embarrased and feel so inadequate.


    There are natural male supplements that you can get over the counter now. You should try them.


    There's an app for that!!
  • GDLAZ
    GDLAZ Posts: 3,784 Member
    I don't get the whole duck face thing, just looks ridiculous. May be showing my age, but I didn't have a cell phone or even a computer when I took my first college class. Cell phones hadn't been invented yet, except for the car phones that back then only the rich could afford. I completed English 101 using a manual typewriter...
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    Now, if we leave the house without a cell phone, we feel as if there wil be some catastrophe and no one will be able to reach us.

    The more practical worry is ending up stranded somewhere and you can't reach anyone else. There's no such thing as pay phones anymore.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I don't get the whole duck face thing, just looks ridiculous. May be showing my age, but I didn't have a cell phone or even a computer when I took my first college class. Cell phones hadn't been invented yet, except for the car phones that back then only the rich could afford. I completed English 101 using a manual typewriter...

    lol...when I was in college, I wrote every single paper my first THREE YEARS on an electric typewriter. Finally, my senior year (1999) I had a hand me down computer from a friend. I also had a writing intensive degree, so you can just imagine the lengthy research papers on my old Smith Corona.

    Embarrassingly, I had NO clue that I could have used the on campus computer labs to print out materials using a disk or flash drive. I just assumed my options were A) buy a $3,000+ computer, B) do all my work in the campus computer labs in 1 hr they were open between my last class and my full time job, or C) use the typewriter.
  • bugaboo_sue
    bugaboo_sue Posts: 552 Member
    I'm honestly curious how and why for that matter people put up with their friends being on their phones when they are out to dinner. I can guarantee that I would say something to the person I was with and if it didn't stop then I wouldn't go out with them any longer. I admit that sometimes I go on my phone when I'm out to dinner with my husband but it's because:

    1) he wants me to look something up for him (usually it's the weather)
    2) I need to look something up to prove him wrong about something (unfortunately he's usually right LOL)
    3) We have friends that were supposed to meet us so I send a quick text asking where they are

    I have never sat on the phone and chit chatted or wildly texted someone else while I was in the company of others. The ONLY time I do that is when my husband is in an intense conversation with someone that does not involve me. Then I will play with my phone until he's done.

    Heck at home my phone is on the charger in the kitchen. I almost never have it in the living room with me (sometimes on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon I will if I'm watching TV and seeing how my friends weekend went) but never at night when I am watching t.v. with my husband and never in the bedroom.

    And yes, if I leave the house without my phone I do feel a sense of panic because of the fact that there are no more pay phones around. If something happens I'm SOL. We always make sure at least one of us has a phone on us when we go out.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
    being condescending about cell phone use is the new being condescending about television watching
  • bugaboo_sue
    bugaboo_sue Posts: 552 Member
    being condescending about cell phone use is the new being condescending about television watching

    Do you mean in a bar or in general?

    I personally hate it when I am at a nice restaurant/bar and someone is yapping extremely loudly on their phone. My husband and I were out one night having drinks at a bar and this guy had his phone on speaker and was talking. With the phone on speaker. Really annoying.

    I also personally think it's rude to text and talk on the phone when you're out with other people who have taken time out of their day to spend with you. I feel very lucky that I don't have any friends like that.
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