Mobile phones can be a menace

Many years ago when hubby first got a mobile phone, he took me out for lunch. A friend phoned him during lunch and he spent the entire time talking to him. The waitress came over at the end of the meal and told him if she was his wife she'd have thrown the phone out the window. He was mortified, as at the time he hardly noticed what he'd done. He still takes business calls at odd times, but never during a meal.

Glad I am not the only hater of the anti-social use of mobile phones. I cannot imagine how insecure these people are who keep having to check their "friends" and whatever do they find to text about all day long; trivia? As for phones in restaurants or at the meal table - don't get me started on that one!
My husband and I do have mobiles as we live in rural France and when driving around on one's own it is reassuring to know help could be at hand if required. They are i-phones. pay as you go with no internet connection except if in a free wi-fi zone. Our old stone house has such thick walls and is in a weak signal black spot so we use the landline whilst indoors.
I I have my computer for all banking/e-mails/ internet shopping etc. so not exactly a technophobe - just still think a phone is for the occasional call - it is always in my handbag so if I do not go out for a couple of days would not know if someone had called. I also find squinting at a small screen frustrating so could not imagine doing all my internet viewing on a phone.
Do find it useful on holiday , out and about or in the large supermarkets and shops to reel in husband when he has gone walkabout . Take a mini-ipad on holiday for other internet use. A € 30 top-up lasts more than a year.

My DM (87) has always refused to have a mobile phone which worried us when she was out out night driving on rural roads, fear of breakdown & how would she get help, her mobility is restricted but she stuck "to her guns" thankfully she has had to give up driving so it's not necessary

Mine lives on my dining table most of the time but if I take it with my when I'm out, but it lives in my handbag so I can't hear it when I'm driving.

Only time I find it really useful is when I go to visit DM as it's a long journey & some-one has to meet me at the Station

I do agree with others regarding social occasions - put it away, there is very rarely any need to have access unless you're expecting a "life or death" situation.

With you all the way, Yorkshiregel. We both have smartphones; more or less forced into having them by insistent son (loves every gadget) but the contracts are ending soon and I shall revert to a simple phone with text facility. In the last analysis, it is just a phone - or should be. A text facility is very handy, but as I am not running a major company, nor am I a very important person, I am taking the view that if there is an emergency anyone can ring me, and emails and surfing etc. can wait until I get home and have time to sit at the PC. Why would I need to know how many emails have arrived while I am out? The incessant 'ping! ping!' of the notification makes you curious to know what is happening, but it's usually an advert and for that you can potentially interrupt a conversation that is far more interesting.

As for mothers with prams- 'had I not leaped out of the way recently a mother shoving a huge buggy at speed, racing along the road and having a row at the top of her voice (shouting, face scarlet) would have crashed into me without even noticing I was there. A stallholder nearby called out 'That was a lucky escape love!'.

Definitely a generation thing. I can't stand people always hanging onto their phones. I sat next to a family of 5 in a service area and they were all on their phones, even the little one (about 3!) was on her ipad. I hate sitting on a train and the whole carriage having to listen to "we're at xxx, I'll be in the office in 10 minutes" - are you really so indispensible (or insecure) - that people need to know that unless you're already late for an appointment?
My daughter can't go anywhere without her phone and admittedly it has been very useful in the past for getting us to the hospital when we'd taken a wrong turn; but for hubby and me it's for finding each other when out shopping, or using as a substitute camera. Can't remember the last time I called someone or received a call.

I wish you luck in finding your simple phone Rosina. I tried and was treated like I was demented. I went for the simplest phone I could get but couldn't avoid the bells and camera even if I did escape the whistles.

A final thought, when you really need one, when you break down in the middle of nowhere, what's the betting you'll find you're in a dead zone with no coverage and it won't work?

They do have their uses. My DiL can keep track of my GS (11) by tracking his mobile, so she knows where he is if not what he's up to!I like mine for its camera and am on the lookout for a deal on a new phone with a better one. I mainly use the phone for texting or 'what's app' with family but use my free call time to talk to my sons.

I don't think it's generational; the two people that I know who are most glued to their phones (checking & answering texts etc during meals - and even conversations - are both my age & I'm retired). Younger people, while always having their phones near them, actually continue a conversation...!
I do agree about parents paying more attention to their phones than their children (stepping off pavements without looking for traffic, not keeping an eye on children in playgrounds, swimming pools etc) but I wouldn't be without my phone, as I use it for all kinds of things (diary, shopping list, menu planning etc) because it's always there when I need it...

I think it is a generational thing and I m happy to be considered 'young' my grandkids think I m 'with it' haha
The other week my grandson said do a 'dab' Nan thinking he'd caught me out ... I did a dab which he then had to put on snapchat haha he was amazed I knew how to dab that showed him LOL

I think the looking at social media etc by young people is only the equivalent to having your head in a book which I was always accused of 'Get your head out that book and get on with so and so ' it's a distraction to mundane life and it is a bit addictive

No excuse at social functions or lunch though

Oh dear, that's concerned me, Joannewton, I was going to start looking fairly soon - perhaps I should begin now. I am grateful for mobiles as they are enormously useful and I am not knocking them - it is just the way they seem to be allowed to take over some people's lives. A few young people in our family would react as if they had had a limb amputated if their phones were missing. I am quite used to being treated as if I am demented by the way - I think it goes with getting past about 55, so I'll start my search and ignore the stunned looks of the assistants in the various phone outlets!

You have paid for her time - ALL her time - don't allow any private clinician to do this to you.

It's a standing joke in our family that I have a phone but rarely answer it and if they want me they use the landline [I work from home]. Mind you I do like to have it with me when out and about - just in case - though I must admit I've not considered that I might be out of range if an emergency occurs! Yipes! another worry to add to my list [fear emoticon]

I chose the iPhone 5SE because it has a really good camera (when I learn to use it properly), but DH has a Microsoft mobile and his camera is brilliant.

yes,I agree,I have a basic mobile phone,they can be useful,I bought one some years ago after our car broke down and we could have done with one.But I do get fed up hearing people's conversations in a loud voice when on a bus.We older people can remember a time when we didn't have them,people would just have to wait till we got home.I do like to have mine when I'm out with my granddaughter,so I can be in contact with her parents if need be.But some people become oblivious to everything around them,they forget to talk to their children or other people they are with.

BlueBelle, I am dying to know what a "dab" is?!?!

While I agree with many of the points raised , mine is always on. DH is on transplant list so ........

It's just a teenage gesture Susie comes from a dance, one arm out straight to the side shoulder height other bent in front of eye height Do it for your grandkids and see what they say LOL ( if they are pre teen or teen they ll love it

how did we live wthout them! mine is an old tesco phone that I use to text friends the time we are meeting. thats about it. if it rings I've no idea what to do.I leave you with this thought. how often did you see a queue outside a phone box with people wanting to pass the time of day with someone?

If you are speaking to someone face to face and the answer their mobile or read a text just stop talking and when they finally give you there attention again very politely say" silly me i thought you were still on your phone ! watch their face go red

I have one, and people ask "why do you have a mobile when its never on" it is on, but not always where I am, maybe charching somewhere.
I totally agree with people NOT having the phone on at the table, my Grandchidren came with their parents the other evening, armed with their mobiles of course, we were about to eat, I said "this is a mobile free zone" they looked at me, and put their phones away, but couldnt wait to leave the table and spend the rest of the evening lying on the sofa looking at their phone. Another one; we went spontaneously to a neighbour just for a chat one evening, the Husbands phone rang and he proceeded to talk,at the same time as my Husband stupidly had asked a question, and immediately the Wife got out her phone and started to GOOGLE, so there WE were sitting on our own, while host and hostess merily ignored us until phone conversation was over, and the GOOGLE had done its job, I was furious, inside, and thought how rude people have become, because of technology. Ranting over!

I have a very ancient Nokia which I take out with me in case my scooter should break down as it did the other week whilst I was in a shop and I was able to phone the mobility centre to bring out another. This was the first time I had had to use it in years. A woman on her phone walked right in front of me the other day and I had to stop quickly. She gave me a terrible look as though it was my fault. I always have to look out for toddlers whose mums are on the phone.

I got a phone years ago for safety when dog walking after a friend fell & broke her ankle & was there for ages before anyone found her.
I couldn't live without it now but would not answer it if I'm in company & have Bluetooth in car so I can use it safely.
I think you just have to be sensible & considerate with them.

There is a time and place for them I use mine to text family and friends and take odd photo but it's only a basic phone . Can't believe consultant used mobile when you were paying for consultation knspol I would have had to say something . Granny piper I have said similar things to people .

No it's not generational. My clients are of a certain age, mostly above fifty.
Picture the scene- me the beauty therapist with my client, all tucked in cozily on my couch having a facial- we'll call her X
Phone rings.
X- oh no I am sorry I thought I'd turned it off
Me- do you want me to get it? ( remember that I am doing a facial, hands coved in creams)
X- no it won't be important, they'll leave a message. Oh dear maybe I'd better, if you don't mind.
Then I stand up and the ringing stops so I sit down again.
X- I'd better see who it is, sorry.
I clean my hands and find the phone.
X- oh it's my husband, I'd better ring him back.
A few minutes later I can get back to work again.
X- so sorry
This is the point where I fantasise that I send her out with her face mask on because my next client is waiting.
I haven't yet but it's so tempting ?