Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/09/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]It's really behavior - either simply rude or very dangerous - that upsets me, Nathan. Rude is conducting a personal and private conversation in public places where it's impossible to escape: book stores, the entrances to buildings, in restaurants. I don't want to know the details of a person's transactions. I don't need to hear anger, venting or tears. Dangerous behavior: holding cell phone to your ear and talking away - while gesturing and driving through a supermarket or mall parking lot - a BUSY parking lot - or attempting to navigate while doing same and holding a paper being refered to on the steering wheel and READING from it. I see this behavior every day. When I'm on my bike it's downright perilous to be near cars with cell phone drivers. This isn't silly, it's damn dangerous. It's also a symptom of something deeper that suggests that being alone with one's own thoughts and inner dialog is either undesirable or so uncomfortable that you need to be plugged into a music player to hold those thoughts at bay. I suspect this is symptomatic of a cultural flaw. Certainly it's one I find alarming. Sometimes I listen to music when cycling but only rarely because it distances me from the environment around me which, given all the drivers who see bicycles as potential targets or at least irritants, isn't very wise. The need for "instant contact" by businesses these days reminds me of Wood Allen's "Play It Again, Sam" where Diane Keaton's husband is always on the phone to his office leaving an endless series of telephone numbers where he can be reached. There's something broken in the business and decision making model that requires it. I'm glad it's an environment in which I no longer have to function. Adam On 9/20/06, Nathan Wajsman <nathan@nathanfoto.com> wrote: > I think it is silly to hate cellphones. I have had one since 1995 and > find it hard to imagine life without one. In fact, my cellphone number > is the only number I ever give out to people. The realities of today's > business world is that you are expected to be reachable when you are not > in the office. Like it or not, that is the way it is. It is true that it > is annoying when you come across stupid people who forget to turn them > off in theaters etc., but there is a technological solution to that, > which some cinemas have implemented, namely to block the signal inside > the auditorium. > > And let us also not forget the bigger global picture: in many poor > countries, the cellphone has made it possible for even outlying villages > to be connected to the outside world, something that would never have > happened if the telephone company had to lay cable to connect such places. > > Nathan > > Adam Bridge wrote: > > I hear you absolutely about cell phones. I only use one when I travel. > > When I drive I have my wife answer it or it doesn't get answered. I > > see way too many scary incidents on a daily basis with the darned > > things. > > -- > Nathan Wajsman > Almere, The Netherlands > > SUPPORT FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BUY DANISH PRODUCTS! > > General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com > Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com > > Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman > http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507 > Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com > > Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >