Aren’t we all guilty? I do hate it when I go to a ballgame and the fellow next to me spends the entire game texting and looking at his/her Pinterest Page or FB. Why spend that kind of money to be at an actual real live game when all you really want to do is spend time in your virtual world?
Here’s a quote from Bruce Jenkins (at Wimbledon), columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle: On the Eve of Wimbledon, English Soccer Despair.
“Not far away, I spotted a fellow American journalist doing a very American thing: fiddling. He rarely looked up from his phone, on which he engaged in texts, e-mails, checks of the Internet, whatever. All of this, apparently, was more important than the event at hand. So it goes with the fiddlers’ generation: not watching, not experiencing, not living. Fiddling.”
As this commercial likes to remind us, in a very nice, understated, humorous way, we are victims of our virtual success- I ignore the marketing aspect:
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Well, perhaps he didn’t want to be there? I fiddle when I’m bored, and sometimes I just have to go to events that bore me.
I do wonder about the people who go to concerts and then spend the entire time filming it on their phone. Why pay to go to a live concert if you then proceed to watch it through your phone all night?? And the quality of the film you get won’t even be as good. Might as well just buy the cocnert on DVD - better end-product and cheaper LOL
Possibly bored, Ciara. But if he’s supposed to report on Wimbledon, he probably should pay attention.
I agree with you. I went to a concert recently and watched a few people view the entire concert through their phones. Weird. Why not watch the concert? Enjoy it live?
At a baseball game??? Obviously not a true fan.
I don’t fiddle! Because I don’t have an iphone, and I don’t text! I know, I’m hopelessly behind the times. But in this case, I think it’s a good thing.
I’m tempted to fiddle sometimes but I always try to resist. But for a professional to be somewhere and do that, no way. Technology is just way too easy to be abused. Although I did see a pic of a guy at a baseball game reading a book and I just had to smile.
Delilah - I give myself permission to fiddle when I’m stuck in line at the DMV. Or any sort of never ending line. If I have a book I’ll read that. If I forgot a book I’ll fiddle. If I had zero interest in attending an event, I sure wouldn’t go.
Hi Penny! I love to text with my kids, but no, don’t check FB (which I closed anyway) or Twitter on my phone. Occasionally if I’m stuck in some weird place I’ll check my email.
Definitely not a true fan, Amber. And the seats next to us cost a bunch!
I don’t have an iphone. Don’t text. Don’t even turn on my cheapie cell phone unless I leave town (which is almost never). Do read my e-book while I’m at PT. That’s about it with the fiddling. Don’t generally turn on the TV…
I have become addicted to the information on the internet. If I want to know a thing or look someone up and say hi, the possibility is always there.
On our recent trip we each had ipads, laptops, iphones and I prefer to read on it, so I had my Kindle too. That means we had all the cords too and two European adapters.
There are just some things you do not do. It annoys everyone around you. Have some respect for others.
So, as the city burns down around their ears, it’s citizens would be too busy texting to notice!
Penelope, make that two. I don’t have an IPhone and don’t know how to text on my old phone either. Although, sometimes my phone makes weird chirping noises. It always takes me days to realize some one texted me. Great post, Julia.
Stephanie - Funny! I have a shared plan with my youngest because I am an intrusive mother and I want to know where she is at all times! It’s sort of shared with my two older kids - we don’t have to pay to call each other.
Short of an implanted diode to locate children I think cell phones are the best invention ever. We text each other all the time - but not during baseball games, movies, concerts, when out to dinner…
That’s right, Tom. But I keep my head up and I don’t wear ear buds, ever, so I’d sound the warning, which of course no one would pay any attention to.
Savannah, it is very annoying to be at a concert, when an announcement has already been made that people should turn their cell phones off or at least mute them, and a cell phone rings. You want to smack the person. So disrespectful.
Well Steph, then you were well prepared for any message of any kind!
Anny, you are unusual. Although having a cell phone while traveling is essential, IMO>
It’s American entertainment, anything to avoid being bored. The fires hit the Westside of Colorado Springs first and hardest, including our neighborhood. A friend who got the call to “Evacuate NOW” in the middle of the night threw bags and boxes in her car and went to the nearest Red Cross facility, in a high school. She said she was lying on a cot in the un-airconditioned gymnasium when she saw a flickering light and knew someone was texting. But it turned out to be a mother texting her son in Denver, telling him where she was. When he texted back, the ringer was set to play the Hallelujah Chorus.
Around her, some began to hum along, some sniffled, and some laughed.
Hope is sometimes a thing with a theme-song ring.
Marilyn - good point. There is a time and a place for everything. And your example captures the beauty of technology. Stay safe!
I find that smartphones really come in handy when stuck in the john without anything to read.
Thank you, Yoshi. That’s good to know.
I hate it when I see someone constantly taking cell phone calls in a restaurant or some public venue. And then they talk so loud. Makes me cringe. Like, “Hey, Dude, are you really that important?” Sometimes I think they’re showing off. Why don’t they make cell phones so you don’t have to tell everyone in Starbuck’s your boyfriend has a new pimple?
The commercial was great. I now do text for quickie things, and I know the person I’m sending the message to will get it when they are ready to read it. Less rude, IMHO. You don’t have to submit to the nice proper verbal rituals. Saves time.
I guess I don’t fiddle, then. I watch people. Although I hate going to the DMV (yes I usually read too), I have to have earphones to concentrate. Most everything isn’t in English anymore, but since I’m learning Spanish, I can’t concentrate. So, if I have nothing to read, I watch people. And a story comes. They are shadow puppets on my storyboard, and I carry a notebook in my purse.
I love to people watch too, Sharon. It’s part and parcel of the trade! Yeah, I hate it when people spend time in a nice restaurant chatting on their cell phone instead of enjoying the company of the person they are with. Some restaurants here actually ban cell phones.