Cell Phones in Theaters

[LogGrad98]

but on a serious note cellphone and wifi jammers should be put in a theather.

I like this solution.

When does something become classified as an "addiction"? If you cannot leave your cell phone in your pocket for an hour and a half, I think that would qualify. Watching people coming out of theaters instantly getting on their phones makes me think of smokers after a long meeting at work, who have cigs in hand before they even hit the door of the meeting room to get out.

We took the cell phones away from my kids for a week during the school's turn off the tv week. It was amazing watching them. They looked lost, like they had forgotten something and couldn't figure out what it was. It took them 3 days to get into any kind of other activity. Kind of scary really, if you think about it.

I also watched a guy on a transatlantic flight freak out, getting pissed beyond what could be considered normal, when his phone battery died faster than he thought it should, even though all we could do was have them in "airplane" mode. Crazy how these things have taken ahold of people.


Can anyone else here remember carrying a dime in your pocket so you could hunt down a payphone if you had to call someone to come pick you up from some place that you walked or rode your bike to?

 

[gregbroncs]

I like this solution.

When does something become classified as an "addiction"? If you cannot leave your cell phone in your pocket for an hour and a half, I think that would qualify. Watching people coming out of theaters instantly getting on their phones makes me think of smokers after a long meeting at work, who have cigs in hand before they even hit the door of the meeting room to get out.

We took the cell phones away from my kids for a week during the school's turn off the tv week. It was amazing watching them. They looked lost, like they had forgotten something and couldn't figure out what it was. It took them 3 days to get into any kind of other activity. Kind of scary really, if you think about it.

I also watched a guy on a transatlantic flight freak out, getting pissed beyond what could be considered normal, when his phone battery died faster than he thought it should, even though all we could do was have them in "airplane" mode. Crazy how these things have taken ahold of people.


Can anyone else here remember carrying a dime in your pocket so you could hunt down a payphone if you had to call someone to come pick you up from some place that you walked or rode your bike to?

Sort of. I remember carrying a pager and a stack of quarters at all times so you could meet up with friends without being stuck at home waiting.

 

[bigb]

then its fun cus then i can fight

Are you like 12 or something? You're seriously the only person I know who likes to look for a fight.

 

[Bronco70]

but on a serious note cellphone and wifi jammers should be put in a theather.

I like this solution.

I like the thought of talkers and texters being unable to interrupt the movie I just paid too much money to see, but as a parent who does not always take his children with him to the movies, I like that I can be contacted in case of an emergency.

 

[Bronco70]

Are you like 12 or something? You're seriously the only person I know who likes to look for a fight.

Catratcho, I'll have to introduce you to Archie someday.

 

[LogGrad98]

I like the thought of talkers and texters being unable to interrupt the movie I just paid too much money to see, but as a parent who does not always take his children with him to the movies, I like that I can be contacted in case of an emergency.

Maybe you and your kids need some help if you can't allow yourself to go 2 hours without worrying about a life-changing catastrophe happening. I turn my cell phone OFF during movies exactly so my kids, among others, cannot interrupt that little bit of time I get away from everything.

 

[YB85]

I like the thought of talkers and texters being unable to interrupt the movie I just paid too much money to see, but as a parent who does not always take his children with him to the movies, I like that I can be contacted in case of an emergency.

Maybe you and your kids need some help if you can't allow yourself to go 2 hours without worrying about a life-changing catastrophe happening. I turn my cell phone OFF during movies exactly so my kids, among others, cannot interrupt that little bit of time I get away from everything.

I agree. Bronco, you and your kids should figure out a better schedule so that any emergencies will be more convenient for you.

 

[DutchJazzer]

Are you like 12 or something? You're seriously the only person I know who likes to look for a fight.

so when is it considered being 12 year old to do what instinct is.
but okay these days when the word battle is uttered people think of dance battles.

what has the world come to now that fighting is not considered manly.

 

[LogGrad98]

Seriously, how many people here have been interrupted during a movie with an emergency that simply could not have waited another hour until the movie ended? Is it everyone's #2 fear? Oh how ever did anyone survive without the constant companionship of cell phones. I imagine before we had cell phones with us 24/7 that most families lost all their kids to random emergencies before any of them reached adult-hood, emergencies that are always avoided and/or mitigated because we have cell phones with us every second of every day.

I mean seriously, if you got to the movie and found that both your and your partner/wife's cell phones were dead, would you turn around and go back home, rather than risk a catastrophe in the next 2 hours?

I am sorry but to me that smacks of paranoia. I know cell phones have been a boon to mankind and allow us to get a hold of emergency personnel or each other when the need arises. I like them for that reason as well. But I put this kind of thinking, that if my cell phone is out of my reach for a whole hour my entire family may go up in smoke without me being able to do anything about it, in the same bucket as the parents in our neighborhood who won't let their 10-year-old walk down the street to a friend's house, fearing that if they take their eyes off the kid for one second of that 3 block walk that will be the very moment a hideous kidnapper will spring out of the bushes and snatch the kid away, even though nothing of the sort has happened anywhere near our neighborhood ever as far as anyone can remember. Paranoia running rampant.

(this is not aimed at you Bronco, you seem reasonable enough, but rather a general observation)

 

[JohnStockalypse]

so when is it considered being 12 year old to do what instinct is.
but okay these days when the word battle is uttered people think of dance battles.

what has the world come to now that fighting is not considered manly.

Being able to fight to protect yourself and your family and friends I could see as a good trait for a man to have. Actively seeking out fights to try to prove something is about as far from a real man as it gets. That's bitch status.

 

[DutchJazzer]

I like the thought of talkers and texters being unable to interrupt the movie I just paid too much money to see, but as a parent who does not always take his children with him to the movies, I like that I can be contacted in case of an emergency.

but still back in the days there was no emergency's.

i remember as a teenager being free as can be without cell phones.
at first if i missed curfew i was gonna get punished anyway so why not max it out. if you miss curfew by 15 minutes or 4 hours. punishment was the same. but then cam the cellphone. i did not get one some of my friends got one. so then my parents started calling me on their cell phone.

their might be some legal problem eg a doctor or some sort needed for a hospital emergency. could not be reached, so the theather might get sued for that. but with a disclaimer they can work around that

 

[Bronco70]

I don't consider myself paranoid. I like the peace of mind of knowing I can be contacted if necessary. My boys are still relatively young (10 and 8) and rambunctious (perhaps I am not an adequate parent, eh?) My strategy is to set the phone to vibrate only, put it in my pocket and forget about it until the end of the movie. I certainly don't sit through it agonizing over whether my kids will be okay until I get home. It's just an extra measure of security to me.

You are right, Log, we got along w/o cell phones for decades, and were just fine. And I'm sure that I could get along w/o it for 2 hours if need be. Phone users in the theatre bug me just as much as they bug anyone else. But the technology is there, and I believe it is incumbent on the individual to use it with respect and consideration.