Things that confuse...

[sinkov]

a miserable old git like me.

Texting....I don't get it. With the advent of the telephone we could nip down to the local phone box and talk to virtually anyone, anywhere in the world, much quicker and convenient than letter writing and waiting for the reply. It become even more convenient when we could all afford phones in our own homes. Then with the advent of the mobile phone we acquired the ability to speak to anyone, anywhere, anytime we liked, surely the gold standard, the ultimate in communication technology, what more could you want, what more would you need ?

Well Mrs S. and her sister talk to each other several times a day, except that they don't, they text each other instead. Constant pings throughout the day as it takes several hours, with texts going back and forth, to sort out the simplest of matters. Meeting up for a coffee and a bit of shopping together which could have been agreed in a 30 second phone call takes hours as confusion reigns and Mrs S. sits there tapping away and trying to work out just what her sister is actually trying to communicate. I've lost count of the number of times I've said 'Just bloody ring her up, you could sort it in seconds', but no the texting goes on....and on, and on.

And everyone else seems to be at it as well, I don't understand it, what's wrong with talking to someone, once you've bought a car you wouldn't go back to riding around in a horse and cart would you, so having acquired the ability to speak to someone as and when, why have so many people regressed to writing to them ?

[alfinyalcabo]

This confuses me.

Why have the Mccanns been given another 154,000 towards their search for Maddie..

[Altobelli]

This confuses me.

Why have the Mccanns been given another 154,000 towards their search for Maddie..

Should have been given a 154 year jail sentence for Child Neglect alf.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Could you imagine the outcry and jail time if the McCanns had been black?

[oldcolner]

The rush to a cashless and paperless society.
Seems it’s in the banks interest to go cashless so they can monitor all our transactions and sell information on, we also spend more if we pay by card or phone. I like my notes and coins, but they are disappearing. Will I remember my passwords as the brain cells die and what then - they have my money and I can’t find it.

This paperless business drives me nuts. My emails now are linked so if somebody gets a meeting invite with all the papers and details on it and replies to say they can’t go, all my papers disappear onto the back of their email. Trying to find meeting papers is then a nightmare after ten folk have done the same. Then I open the papers and can’t write my comments on them so either I print them off or forget it? I think that’s the real plan let’s just forget all we decided last time as we haven’t done the actions and don’t want to do so.

These mobile phone contracts also confuse does anyone send 5000 texts a month and if so what else do they do. Is there time to go to the toilet and eat? I might manage 10 or even 20 a month!

[Altobelli]

Could you imagine the outcry and jail time if the McCanns had been black?

I'd also add that if they had not been so called prominent people and general working class it would have also been different.

Don't get me wrong I feel their pain for the loss of their child be it their fault or not, but thousands of folk lose their loved one's every year for one thing or another and go through their pain on their own without generous amounts of man work and cash to help them find them.

[Altobelli]

Where else in the world can you become an MP and sign into a building getting paid £300 for the privilege of having a kip

[sinkov]

Could you imagine the outcry and jail time if the McCanns had been black?

I would imagine if the McCanns had been black and the police had failed to find their child, it would have been blamed on institutional racism in the Constabulary and yet another National Inquiry would have been instigated.

[1959_60]

Aye Sinkov, I agree with your general point.

Texting is very handy if you ring but don't get a reply. And I find it annoying when people are having conversations on trains, busses, supermarkets etc.

Also the fact that texting is usually free - phoning isn't.

Texting is also handy for sending instructions. If you just tell someone verbally then, if it goes pear shaped, they can say "you never said that"

But to use it for more mundane stuff is very inefficient.

[alfinyalcabo]

***ting is more fun ..