Mobile phones can be a menace

I'm a 'young' Nanny (52 with a 4 year old DGD and another DGD due at the end of Feb). I must confess that I couldn't survive without my phone, particularly if I'm out with DGD playing Pokemon Go ( I have 2 Pikachu and DD doesn't have any! DGD loves Pikachu ). I use mine for Facebook, checking the train times Pokemon Go and WhatsApp, as well as more conventional uses.

I accidentally left my phone at work over the weekend a couple of years ago, it was like I'd had my arm chopped off, also a pain as I was trying to organise my 50th birthday party.

Always carry my cellphone with me. If nothing else, it helps hubby and I find each other when we go shopping together. I also make sure it's plugged into the charger every night before bedtime.

Issue....Re: ignoring others etc., I think it's because technology has gotten so far ahead of us, that the rules of etiquette haven't caught up yet. Having said that, I do think that good manners is just common sense. You don't need to turn it off altogether, just silence it. I you're visiting friends, eating with others at a restaurant, going to the theater or anywhere else that behooves your undivided attention, check discreetly if you feel a buzz and ignore it at will. If perchance it's a real emergency, there shouldn't be any need for apologies.

i have tried, believe me. I have really tried with mobile phones but i must admitt I am not interested in them or what they do. having just lost mine, again,we now have one between us, its held together with an elastic band with a sticker on the back that has the number written on it! my husband takes it with him especially when he is out runnningor cycling to let me know ,what time to expect him and that he is ok. now my ipad is another thing, I use that for everything and love it. also at home we have a little box by the door and the gc put their phones in it when visiting. they just laugh about itand call it one of nans rules!

I have an ancient Nokia - my husband's old old phone. In fact my seven-year-old grandson thought it was funny when he saw it. I rarely use it and sometimes have to ring the landline so that it doesn't go into hibernation. Recently I filled in an application form for The Chase and found that a mobile phone number was compulsory! I emailed the show and was told to put a single number on the form to fill in the line so that they would know I don't use a mobile. I have the phone for emergencies only. As for seeing young mothers constantly on the phone, over the past couple of years I have seen a woman with a pushchair on the phone, ignoring the child. Last week I noticed that the children must now be in nursery as she was walking without a pushchair but still on the phone. Also I walked down the street in a nearby town and practically everyone I passed was looking at a phone. What did we do without them?

I agree with everthing that's been said here about the evils of mobile phones but I think nothing truly upsets me more than people using them while driving: www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37643994 Mobiles seem to have promoted a collective idiocy!

Igot my first mobile 20+ years ago when I was driving DD quite long distances in an elderly horsebox; it actually did come in handy a couple of times. I still have one (though DD drives the horsebox herself now ), I even bought a smart phone earlier this year but it's too fiddly to do anything but make calls, text & take photos. I do try to keep it charged and with me most of the time. I wouldn't miss it if I didn't have one but people get so irritated if you don't use a mobile.

I have two mobile phones, one for work and my personal one. I don't answer the phone (including my landline) when we're at the table unless I am awaiting urgent news (i.e. when family members are very ill etc.).

The major problem I have with mobile phones is that when someone rings/texts/leaves a voicemail there is an expectation from them that I should regard it as urgent and immediately reply, when often a response in NOT my priority.

I find it odd that so many blame the technology rather than the people who use it. It's a bit like blaming the piano if the notes don't come out in the right order... If you don't want to anwer or be a slave to it, then don't. Turn the blooming thing off. If others annoy you, well that's life, you can pick your friends, make sure they are other like-minded people. I have a smart phone, I use it when I want to. If I'm worried about a family member, I can at least see who is calling and may chose not to answer someone not related. I can check for urgent responses to emails when not at home and move money around when necessary without going to the bank or going home first. I read my Kindle books on it or catch up on the news when bored in waiting rooms. Take what you want from the technology and leave the rest - if you can't beat it, you don't have to join it!

ok boomers

We have just got back from Germany - and oh the joy. Germans have just as many mobile phones as we do, but people in the street were not clutching phones in their hands all the time, not answering them in the street as they walked around. Nobody had their telephone on the table as they ate, so nobody was playing with their phone while they ate either.

When people were on the train, with a long journey ahead, yes, they were -playing games, checking emails etc etc,but again, any calls and there were not that many, were taken quietly so as not to disturb other passengers.

It was wonderful!

How do people find these old threads? This one seems to be 3 years old! Plus the one who DID find it only made a stupid comment.