Texting and Email rant

[The Goon]

[WhiteTiger]

This just reminds me of the utter fun my wife and I had honeymooning in Hawaii. One of the things we made sure we did was leave our phones here in Calgary. We figured that we'd be able to do any phoning we needed with the one in the hotel room. We were right. We really enjoyed ourselves, and the world kept on turning.

Some of the looks we got from folks when they asked us our phone numbers was pretty priceless, though.

[Stranger]

My phone stays in my truck when I'm working. I check it at lunch for anything urgent and then again at the end of the day. Funny how much extra I can get done in a day without calls or checking the phone.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

ever hear of turning it off on non-on-call times?

Is there such thing as an app for BB where I can only let friends call me after 6? That would be pretty sweet if so. My problem is that I only have one phone for everything. I don't want to turn it off in the evenings lest I become a friendless hermit.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Some of the looks we got from folks when they asked us our phone numbers was pretty priceless, though.

Who was asking for your numbers ?

[JiriHrdina]

I was out at the bar on Friday night with 4 others. I one point I looked around and no one was talking - everyone was texting.

Lame.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I was out at the bar on Friday night with 4 others. I one point I looked around and no one was talking - everyone was texting.

Lame.

Even people who aren't social outcasts can quickly become zombies. Kind of sad really.

I've been known to send a text now and then but recently with data and such people just act like total losers. Who surfs the internet while they're out with friends? Sad, pathetic people. That's who.

[Deegee]

Frankly I find a lot of this thread hilarious.

I do not have a cell phone and refuse to get one because I know it will be used for work. When I'm out of the office, I don't want to be reached if I'm out of the house. In my industry (banker) there is nothing too important that cannot wait until business hours.

Drop my an e-mail at my company e-mail box, but if I don't reply outside of business hours do not get upset. Yes I have a means to check it through a web login, but that doesn't mean I should have to, or even do on a frequent basis.

Originally Posted by Methanolic

I started a new job about 4 months ago and was basically told that I needed to get a BB.

Does your employer pay for your BB? This is just another reason I will not get a cell phone. I know I would use it for work. If my employer told me to get a BB or a phone I would ask them where the bill gets sent to.

[Kswiss]

Its been over 30 min since the Mighty posted....how rude....

This thread is super hilarious!!!

[Methanolic]

Originally Posted by Deegee

Does your employer pay for your BB? This is just another reason I will not get a cell phone. I know I would use it for work. If my employer told me to get a BB or a phone I would ask them where the bill gets sent to.

Yup. Everyone in the Co. has one. and they BBM and Email constantly. One of the "higher ups" loves to compose during the day and then hit send around 11 or 12 at night. Actually RGMG's because he thinks people will beleive he is working really late at home. truth is, the Email shows the time it was composed.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by Methanolic

Actually RGMG's because he thinks people will beleive he is working really late at home. truth is, the Email shows the time it was composed.

Sounds like a real dick

[Methanolic]

Originally Posted by Pinner

Sounds like a real dick

Actually, not so much, just very transparent.

[Stranger]

Originally Posted by Kswiss

Its been over 30 min since the Mighty posted....how rude....

This thread is super hilarious!!!

Yeah, doesn't he know it's rude not to check CP every half hour and update the threads you start. He's officially lost my business.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Pinner

Who was asking for your numbers ?

It surprised us as well, but quite a few folks. First and foremost, there are a ton of folks in booths around Honolulu who try to sell you great deals on tours. They are folks who know all the various tour groups around, and will do the legwork for you to find the best deals, best tours, best hotels, etc. Most of them are independants, but some are part of a larger group, as well. Since every one we talked to worked on commission (we didn't use any of their services, but they are high pressure and hard to get away from if you don't know what they are pushing at first) and move around, they want to get in touch with you when they find "great deals you may be interested in."

It turns out that they used to ask for your hotel name and room number, but so many assume these days that folks have their own cell phones, they just ask for your phone numbers. As previously mentioned, the looks on some of these folks faces when we told them we intentionally left our cells back in Canada was pretty priceless.

Thing is, some of these folks ARE really good at finding out and/or making deals for you. But there are a lot of them. To find the best...broker, I guess you would call them, ask at a couple different hotels. They will either give you a specific name, or, in a couple cases, a specific company that is good to deal with.

[SeeBass]

Awww the youth of today they think that their opinion, and what they do with their lives is sooo important.

That is what happens when everybody gets a trophy.

[Mighty Tytan]

Ok, interesting thread, thanks for all your input.

1) for the CAPS and spelling teachers, please this is a message board and it was a late night rant. There were plenty of good points made, why bother with the drivel? I will try and capitalize properly and spell better, but if I make a mistake, get over it.

2) Most of you have missed the context. Of course I dont text while in a movie or in the middle of a conversation. That really wasnt my point.

3) Business email. You are right, I dont reply to standard requests that happen to come in after hours within 10 minutes and I certainly dont expect anyone else too. Once again, apply some context please.

4) I do think some people have the exact opposite unreasonable approach to communications in that I dont understand making myself unavailable just because the clock says so. I guess not being a salaried employee but instead an independant freelancer, I have a different perspective.

5) I maintain many of you are sticking your head in the sand about the increasing importance of smart phones, social media and new technology will have you on your life. It is too late to beat it, so I urge you to join it. You ability to interact commercially will centre around your smart phone.

Hope that clears it up. I can see why my OP would come accross wrong and yes I get that is why this is a negative aspect of the text world!

I strongly believe that these new communication methods are simply tools to be applied and taken advantage of, not to replace the tried and true standard of personal communication (face to face).

[frinkprof]

I'll just respond to a couple of your points.

Originally Posted by Mighty Tytan

3) Business email. You are right, I dont reply to standard requests that happen to come in after hours within 10 minutes and I certainly dont expect anyone else too. Once again, apply some context please.

You gave very little, if any, context in your original post, and the examples of after-hours messages and 2 AM e-mails wasn't really a leap at all given the tone and nature of your post. I'm glad you've clarified it just now, but you can't fault people for taking things out of a context you never gave.

Originally Posted by Mighty Tytan

5) I maintain many of you are sticking your head in the sand about the increasing importance of smart phones, social media and new technology will have you on your life. It is too late to beat it, so I urge you to join it. You ability to interact commercially will centre around your smart phone.

No. Your ability to interact commercially will centre around your smartphone. Your line of business, whatever it is, obviously depends heavily upon communicating promptly with clients and colleagues. That can not be applied to many lines of business. This is actually one of my pet peeves - when people think that the day-to-day demands, tasks, and nuances of their job in their area of expertise applies to how all jobs and lines of businesses operate as well. I don't pretend to have an intricate knowledge of every job or industry on the planet, but I think it's important to strive to have at least a little bit of knowledge about what makes the world go around and how various industries work and what goes into them.

Simply put, not every job or business requires employees to have smartphones, and many never will just due to the very nature of the tasks needed to be carried out. I think you would do well to have a look around at what goes into making the products you use, the places you go, and everything that makes your life the way it is and realize that the people that make it happen don't operate the same way you do at your job.

[Mighty Tytan]

As a consumer, the world is moving to the smart Phone. There will be a day where plastic credit cards will be replaced by electronic payment apps that u will use to interact with whatever retailer you are buying from.

As one example.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by 4X4

It pissed me off one day when someone BBM'd me asking if I could drive her somewhere. While concocting a bulletproof reason why I was busy, she BBM'd me again saying that she knew I got the message and to reply. Sorry, I don't work that way.

So was sex good?

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by 4X4

As for the phone, I get pretty sick of business calls coming in on nights like last friggin night during hockey. I just hit ignore. I don't even care that people can figure out that I'm hitting ignore based on how long the phone rings before going to VM. F*** off already. There is nothing so damn important that I need to put down my beer and pause HNIC unless there's a house on fire or someone in the hospital. And it's not that I care so much about hockey, it's just that it's saturday night. Not wednesday afternoon. If it was wednesday afternoon, I'd answer a business call.

I like the fact that we can program the answer/reject/ and just plain f-off button.

I think, but I just got the phone, I can program just want I want to do at all times of the day... I needs me my India $4 dollar assistant pronto!