I blame fax machines

[Anonymous]

Nice rant Taffy

 

[Taffy Turner]

Cheers Tony - I am turning into a Grumpy Old Man before my time!!!!!

(I am only 40 - going on 83!)

 

[trevtheturner]

Well said, Taffy.

You're hpme early :shock: .

Cheers, Trev.

 

[Taffy Turner]

Well said, Taffy.

You're hpme early :shock: .

Cheers, Trev.

Yes - I got home in the early hours of Sunday in a sorry state.

I am sitting here in work surfing the forum as I don't have the energy to do anything else to be honest!

 

[frank]

it all might change if they start teaching kids the forth R

 

[Chris Knight]

Taffy,

I agree with every word. The trouble is that the same argument can be applied to guns. They are very useful for the right purposes. Unfortunately, too many people use them for the wrong purposes!

(I am not meaning to be a smart-*** here but the human race has never been able to rely on good behaviour or common sense in anything. There comes a point where the only answer seems to be a great big blunt instrument (ban it, whatever it is). Don't suppose this will happen to phones but then who knows, it's going to happen to cigarettes - indeed has done so in many places).

 

[dedee]

There is nothing common about sense especially in a society that seems to revel in the dumbing down of education and a media that panders to the lowest common denominator.

Andy

 

[RogerS]

I do a lot of flying and the one thing that I don't understand is the guys that phone up the office repeatedly and say "thought I'd just check to see if there are any messages" or the guys that give a running comentary about getting on and off a plane.

Maybe the constant use of mobile phones makes people feel important.

Now Waka I think you've hit the nail on the head with this one. It's all about self-esteem or rather lack of. The very same that drives pillocks to drive their offspring to school in Hampstead in an SUV.

Taffy wrote

If everyone was taught basic manners as a child, and bothered to behave in a polite and civilised way for the duration of their life, then all these irritations with technology wouldn't exist. It isn't the technology that is causing the problem, it is simply the means by which modern society's ills are brought to light.

I couldn't agree more and people put this down to 'where has society gone wrong'..lack of basic respect for others or even an awareness that others exist. The conversation then goes on to blame 'teachers, lack of police, courts, parents/lack of parents, Govt'. In truth it's probably down to many of the aforementioned starting with 'you musn't smack Johnny when he's naughty'.

But actually IMHO the blame lies with *us*. Regrettably I think that *we* as a society have actually abrogated our responsibility. Perhaps if ten years or maybe fifteen years ago *we* remonstrated against what we perceived as unruly behaviour/disprespect and then actually DID something about it by telling said person to stop then perhaps, just perhaps, we might be living in a better society than we have now.
But then again..who knows?

I remember back in the early seventies coming back on an overnight ferry with the missus. We must have been in our twenties. We were sleeping in those openstyle couchette thingies and in the couchettes next door were two teenagers..part of a school trip. They'd been drinking and one of them was F'ing and Blinding like a trooper...much to my wifes discomfort plus we wanted to get to sleep. So I trundled around to said teenager and politely asked him to desist.

His reply was 'What the f**ks it to do with you?'. My right hand must have slipped as somehow he got a real painful cuff on the ear as I, again, more firmly replied ' That's what it's got to do with me'. he shut up. Would I do it now? Who knows

:wink:


Overheard recently on the train...woman speaking very loudly into mobile phone...'CAN YOU HEAR ME'. A very dry cultured male voice from the other end of the carriage replied..'We all can'. She stopped talking.