Cell Phones and Other Modern Conveniences

I have had a mobile phone since I began working during high school.  It was a bag phone that was too large to carry around with me.  I didn't get a cell phone that I could carry in my pocket or purse until I was a Junior in college.  I know I used it, but I wasn't "attached" to it.  I used it to make sure my family knew where I was.  I always called home when I left work, school, etc.  I hardly ever texted, and I made few phone calls.

Once I began teaching full time, I still used my phone sparingly.  I called home every day when I left work, I used it to talk to folks when necessary, and I began texting more.

When I moved from the classroom to Central Administration, I got a Blackberry.  I know now, looking back, that I was a little too attached to my phone during the first few years of having it.  I checked it constantly.  I got over a 100 emails a day, numerous phone calls, and plenty of texts. Being in a new position, I felt "on call" all the time.  I had 3 campuses and central office asking questions, needing info, and more. I finally set some rules for myself.  No messaging/checking messages after 9:00 pm or before 6:30 am.

Now, I try to make sure I don't have my phone out and visible when my attention should be on something else.  If I am at the table, a meeting, class, etc., I try to keep my focus on the people I am with or the task at hand.

I had to do some growing and learning, but now I see how wrong I was those few years.  I missed out on family time and appeared disrespectful when not giving my full attention. With this in mind, it amazes me the amount of time and when people are on their phones.

I saw this on Facebook yesterday.  Enjoy!
It reminded me of my thoughts on cell phones, but it hits on many other modern conveniences that could be discussed. I put my thoughts in blue at the end of each statement.

Growing up without a cell phone

If you are 36, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH... ways...yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

1) I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! (When I was in high school, we volunteered through National Honor Society to begin the city's public library.  One of our jobs was to create the card catalog!)

2) There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents! (Well, stamps were more expensive than that, but I did right many letters.  I also wrote tons of notes to friends that we passed between classes.)

3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe! (In the town where I lived, if you got in trouble at school or somewhere in town, your parents knew before you got home.  You knew how to act b/c you were raised "right" and b/c everyone knew you. We knew everyone and everyone knew us.)

4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! (My dad was a record collector, so we spent many Friday nights in the record store.)

5) Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig? (Yep!)
 
6) We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! (Yeah!) 

7) There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are. (Yep!)
 
8) And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister! (If you wanted to dodge calls, you just didn't answer at all.)
 
9) We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen.. Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE! (My brother played Atari.  I'm sure I played some, but I wasn't into video games, and I still am not today.  I played and played using my imagination daily.  I think kids are missing out on that today.)

10) You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?! (I was the remote for my parents' tv when I was little.  I had to get up and change the channels.  When my parents replaced the living room television with a new one, I got the old one for my bedroom.  The remote only went one direction.  If I was on channel 8 and wanted channel 5, I had to go all the way through all the channels until it got to the end and then started repeating or I had to get up and change it at the tv.)

11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards! (Yep!  We only had cartoons on Saturday mornings until I was a little older and there were some on television right after school.)

12) And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that! (I don't know how I made it with out a microwave.  I use it all the time now.)

13) And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores! (My brother and his friends played all day at each others' houses or outside.  He didn't come home until it got dark.  I, on the other hand, was not one to play outside.  I played in the house, especially my room, using my imagination to do all kinds of things or visit great places.)

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place! (Car seats existed when we were little, but they were not required.  My brother wouldn't stay in his.)

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1970 or any time before!