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Hi All!
I hope this week has been good to you ... and that if you're on the east coast you've got your boots, show shovel, and a big ol' scarf handy!
Last week's back-and-forth about our phones was too good not to revisit! Here's a sampling ...
I just had this conversation about phones yesterday with my sweet counselor friend. We decided our phones are a tool to help us, not for you to able to get in touch with us 24/7. Enough already. My solution has been, I do not answer if I am busy or occupied. Please leave a message.
- Lulu
I also thought of sending you my comments by post from now on. But the postage from UK to USA is expensive.
- Victor
I understand your phone being turned off but it makes it difficult for those of us who work during the day and our best times to talk are evenings. Personally I don't want to call Tim's phone to find you if I just want to chat and it's not important - only if it's an emergency.
- Marilyn
I have all notifications turned off on my phone except texts and phone calls. I check email regularly enough that I don't need to be notified whenever a new one comes in. I can't stand constant dinging.
- Barbara
Because we are writers and do use social media to connect with our community, our phones can become part of our work day. We also come from generations where a phone was just a conversation over a telephone line-nothing else. I remember when I was a teenager, my mother would say, "you are tied to your phone." Oh, how we have evolved but the tether has become stronger rather than lighter. Our phones sure have changed, but sometimes my heart longs for that feeling of just a telephone line without data, email, texting, etc.
- Lynn
As a pastor, I can't turn my phone off but I have made other steps to move away. Silencing my phone at night. Leaving my computer in the office on Thursday instead of bringing it home so I can check it on Friday (my day off). Things can wait until Saturday.
- Bill
I love the idea of a sabbatical and being less available. I never put my email on my phone because I didn't want constant notifications. Any important contacts in my phone have their own notification so when it goes off I know if I can ignore it or not ;)
- Cyndi
I try to keep my phone on silent and face down as much as I can. I check for text messages throughout the day but that is about it. I don't want that it keep me from the people right in front of me each day as these days will pass so quickly.
- Joanne
Remember when the phone was attached to the wall and if you walked too far away from it no one could reach you? Yeah. Ahh. Bliss!
ReplyDeleteSo true, Sandi! But I when talking on the phone, I stretched the phone cord as far as possible to get into a different room, even the bathroom, for privacy! LOL
DeleteI checked on Amazon - they have 25 foot cords!
DeleteThose were the days! ☎️
I do not understand this new technology. Whenever my cell-phone rings I press the wrong button and take a photo of my ear. My friend says he's got Bluetooth. I advised him to see a dentist.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I love your comment, Victor! I work for a dentist and am going to share it with staff today! We have an inspiration saying on our screen in our waiting room and would like to share it there as well, if that is okay with you?
DeleteYep, there's a good reason that Victor's been named WITTIEST COMMENTER around here! Your fame is growing, man! 🏆
DeleteHi Lynn,
DeleteYou are welcome to share my comment with anyone you wish. I visited the dentist recently. He asked me to stand by the window and stick my tongue out. I asked him why? He said because he did not like the neighbour living across the road!
Thanx Lynn and Linda. God bless.
😜
DeleteThis was just the funniest!
DeleteVictor's just too MUCH, isn't he!
DeleteI loved reading all the comments, Linda. It brought back a lot of memories of a time that has passed but of a time that I am still fond of (I guess)!
ReplyDeleteYeah, you're right, Lynn. Maybe life was simpler then. 😏
DeleteMy kids.nag me about carrying my phone into the garden when I am working there. Ugh. I carried a baby monitor into the garden during naps for a decade. It feels good to be untethered at times.
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe we've been tethered one way or another for far too long and we're yearning to run free? 🤷
DeleteI enjoyed reading what folks had to say about their phones, Linda. I really try not to be so dependent upon mine in the day to day. It's just another one of those distractions that I don't need.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Good point about distractions, friend. And we don't want anything getting in your way of getting stronger each day and recovering well.
DeleteMay this be a sweet day of rest. 💐
I like how everyone has different ways of keeping technology at bay. I understand the point the photographer in the one article was trying to make and the gift of presence--but seeing one moment in time of people on their phones doesn't mean they never pay attention to each other. Some years ago an acquaintance said she saw a couple on their cell phones at a restaurant. She made fun of them and encouraged her kids to (quietly to themselves, not so the other people could hear). I don't know if it's ever right to make fun of people--but we also don't know if that couple had been yard work together all day or traveling and talking for hours or what. I'm not saying either you or the photographer are judging--you're both making good points--but I am just reminding all of us not to rush to judgement when we see people on their phones while they are with someone else.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, Barbara! A good caution not to jump to conclusions!
DeleteI remember coming down the stairs during one holiday gathering and every single relative was absorbed on the screen in front of them. It was kind of wierd and surreal, especially since we weren't together often. I never forgot that image.
Somewhere in here is a healthy place. And I'm guessing many of us are still figuring out what that looks like. 👧
Love the revisit to the conversation and the pictures with the phones removed, funny! Have a great weekend, Linda.
ReplyDeleteCindy, thanks! I'm glad you're here 👩.
DeleteMy word for this past week is Intense! busy with good stuff but very full. I am blessed to have today to catch up. Happy Weekend Linda!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a word for the week, Jean! You've grabbed my attention this evening 💡.
DeleteThe post with the people holding phones but now deleted, was pretty sad. We want our phones to help us with our relationships, not hinder us.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, the land line phone, attached to the kitchen wall, was basically off limits for us kids, unless we passed the 24 grueling comments from mom. "Who are you going to call? Why? Why can't you wait until school tomorrow to tell them? How is that important?" I hated it at the time, but it has carried into my present day, and I usually ask myself questions before I call or text someone.
Yep, I remember all those questions, Theresa. And there was usually a time limit ... and sometimes a waiting line. I'm fascinated that those questions come to your mind all these years later. Amazing 📞.
DeleteAnd yes, I found those photos sad, too. I truly believe our relationships have suffered because of our obsession.
Thanks for being here this evening!
Phones can be a blessing, and a hindrance sometimes. I appreciate the witty comments too!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we've got some real comedians around here 😁!
DeleteI get very few actual phone calls, which suits me fine! :) So when it does ring, I usually am quick to see who it is.
ReplyDeleteI know, I know ... I used to be on the phone ALL the time. These days, it's far less. And yes, that works for me, too 😉.
DeleteHello!! Thank you for your nice comment on my blog. It's nice to "meet" you. You sound like someone I'd love to meet in person!! I love the link to those photos you sent...and one was from the city right across the river from where i live!! I actually teach in that city (the southeast part of Troy). Cool!!
ReplyDeleteFor me: I use my mobile phone as needed such as to call and check on a close friend or family member. I use it to text my oldest daughter (who just got her own apt last summer for the first time) and with whom I like to send Scriptures to or an encouraging word, etc. I teach special ed prek children from 8:30-1 pm so the phone has to be on silent OR in a drawer in the classroom per our agency rules. I'm ok with that!! I do use it to check weather in morning, and each daughter (2) has their own alert sound in case of emergency. I rarely check email on it as i have a MAC laptop for that which is also where I blog. And after 9 pm the phone does NOT get used unless there's an emergency. We no longer have a landline although on paper we do (meaning we give it to companies etc for those "junk" calls).
I really enjoyed poking around your blog. I LOVE it.
I love that we connected today, Faith. Actually, I was looking through some old posts from years ago and you left a comment and that's how I found you!
DeleteI'm a text person, too ... it's worked well in keeping in touch with family, old and new friends, sending quick words of encouragement and Scripture.
I'm so happy to meet you today. I love when God does that 😇!
Those are some funny responses regarding phones. I'm not that popular, so I don't have a lot of interruptions with my phone.
ReplyDeleteMy phone's not ringing off the hook either, Amy. Works for me 🔕!
DeleteInteresting. I'm glad the phone exists but I avoid it as much as possible. I finally dropped my land line because I had to have a cell phone to go to the doctor (they call you from the parking lot when it's time to come in.) I refuse to have it attached to my hip, though I do enjoy conversations with friends I can no longer see in person due to Covid and will take it in what might be an emergecy situation (bad driving weather, etc.) Ah well. Everyone has their thing and I can't judge. I just try to keep sane in a too-plugged-in world!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Jeanie, everyone is coming from a different place and because everyone's needs and expectations vary, our responses run the gamet 🙂!
DeleteAh - I enjoyed this continued chat (sans my cell) this morning! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're here today, Jennifer 😊!
DeleteSaw this earlier Linda but since I had taken Jo away for her birthday (to see our grandson in Ohio) I thought I better wait to respond. :) Gotta listen to my own words. thanks for the mention.
ReplyDelete'Gotta listen to my own words.'
DeleteMe, too, Bill. Me, too.
Oh how I have enjoyed reading all the comments about phones! I chuckled out loud at some of the comments. We have to maintain a land line because of internet and YES, I still have a phone on the wall! But Oh I do remember the days of party lines! So glad I don't have to put up with that anymore. BUT sad that I have one too many phone bills to pay. Hope your week is wonderful to you. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteI never was on a party line! Like the forerunner of social media, yes?
DeleteI'm old school and would prefer to chat on the phone over exchanging multiple texts or e-mails. But I would only call people during acceptable hours (e.g., 9 am to 5 pm).
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, my mom and grandma would try to see who could call each other first at 5 pm when the rates went down to ten cents a minute.
DeleteGrandma wouldn't believe where we find ourselves in 2022!
I get in trouble with family members for leaving the phone where I'm not. Just can't seem to get in the habit of picking it up and carrying it with me everywhere. I need a holster!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have 1 or 2 who aren't fans.
DeleteSorry.
So much an be said of the good and evil of our phones.
ReplyDeleteFor sure.
DeleteAbout 20 years ago a Christian singer (I'm blanking on his name right now), sang a song about "teenagers in the house," and the teen's phone usage. There's a prophetic line about the phone being 'surgically implanted in the ear.' This was years before earbuds--which are pretty close to surgical implantation! I hate talking on the phone. But I love my family, so I'll call occasionally ;).
ReplyDeleteLittle did he know that before long, the teenager's parents would be sailing in the same boat ⛵️!
Delete