Things I Have Never Understood ... add yours

[cassiesmom]

Brussels sprouts. They're like tiny cabbages. My whole family likes them, except for me.
Marathons. If I need to go that far, I'm not going on foot!
Parallel parking. I still stink at it after many years.

[pomtzu]

Smart phones: Okay - I know the majority out there will seriously disagree with me, but..............I don't have one and have no desire to ever own one.

Is it necessary to carry a mini computer with you wherever you go? Do you really need it to take pictures with??? - isn't that what cameras are for? Must you have this phone to your ear while you are walking down a crowded sidewalk, making your way thru the mall, and shopping at the grocery store??? Is the conversation that you are involved in really that important that you couldn't wait till you got home? Must you talk/text and drive - even tho it's illegal in most states now? And I could go on and on, but frankly, I'm not even aware of all that these phones can do.

Yes - I have a cell phone, but it's not all that smart ! It has a camera which I have used on occasion, browsing capabilities which I have never used, and some other features also. I purchased it to use as a PHONE, and I do text on occasion, and the only reason I bought it in the first place, was to have in an emergency when I was away from home. I will not answer if someone calls me and I am driving, unless I have the bluetooth activated, and I just utilized this capability when I was driving to and from NC - never use it for local driving.

Think back - you managed before the smart phone, so why can't you now?? Does anyone remember the now obsolete phone booth?

[Taz_Zoee]

Smart phones: Okay - I know the majority out there will seriously disagree with me, but..............I don't have one and have no desire to ever own one.

Is it necessary to carry a mini computer with you wherever you go? Do you really need it to take pictures with??? - isn't that what cameras are for? Must you have this phone to your ear while you are walking down a crowded sidewalk, making your way thru the mall, and shopping at the grocery store??? Is the conversation that you are involved in really that important that you couldn't wait till you got home? Must you talk/text and drive - even tho it's illegal in most states now? And I could go on and on, but frankly, I'm not even aware of all that these phones can do.

Yes - I have a cell phone, but it's not all that smart ! It has a camera which I have used on occasion, browsing capabilities which I have never used, and some other features also. I purchased it to use as a PHONE, and I do text on occasion, and the only reason I bought it in the first place, was to have in an emergency when I was away from home. I will not answer if someone calls me and I am driving, unless I have the bluetooth activated, and I just utilized this capability when I was driving to and from NC - never use it for local driving.

Think back - you managed before the smart phone, so why can't you now?? Does anyone remember the now obsolete phone booth?

I understand what you mean about phones and always being "connected". However, I feel lost without mine.
Also, just a few weeks after my parents bought me my first cell phone (back before smart phones) I got a flat tire out in the country at 1am. Came in very handy to call dad to come help me.

One thing I do not understand is a couple of TV shows. The first is/was Sister Wives and now My Five Wives. I just think it is ridiculous to show this on TV!!! I have never watched an episode and try to fast forward through the commercials. I don't want to watch a family that has multiple wives. UGH!!

[cloverfdx]

People's obsession with tv, especially cooking & home renovation shows :/.

[RICHARD]

People's obsession with tv, especially cooking & home renovation shows :/.

I saw a program where a couple bought a home in El Lay as a rental and vacation property. The home was on stilts, on a mountain side and surrounded with chapparal/brush and bushes.

Fires, earthquakes and mudslides? They then went 20,000 dollars over budget. 750 dollars for a shower head and another 750 for faucets?

It's all about people long on money and short on brains.

------------

Cooking shows lost me a while back when they started to demand Pink Himalayan Salt blocks to cook on and that special cheese that comes from cows that eat from the pastures --with the special grass sown by chanting monks during a full moon and then milked during an eclipse when all the planets are in conjunction....

[slick]

Oh come on now Richard....aren't you still just a wee bit smitten with Nigella?

[RICHARD]

Oh come on now Richard....aren't you still just a wee bit smitten with Nigella?

LOL, Helen Mirren shares my heart with NL.....It's crowded in there!

[pomtzu]

I understand what you mean about phones and always being "connected". However, I feel lost without mine.
Also, just a few weeks after my parents bought me my first cell phone (back before smart phones) I got a flat tire out in the country at 1am. Came in very handy to call dad to come help me.

Yes Cindy - I do agree that cell phones are almost a necessity these days, and I too have one. My post was directed to the smart phone and the obsession that most of the population has with these mini computers. A "phone" is supposed to be a "phone" - right???

I went to Walgreen's the other day and was ready to check out. I was behind these two oafs - a man and woman - who were dressed like walking billboards for the local university. The man was on his phone talking about 'energy efficient windows' and gesticulating like a windmill with one vane missing. The woman was pushing a cart looking at her phone. I wanted to scoot around them but had to wait, so I just took my time.

When they got to the register, the woman looked over her shoulder and shot me a dirty look as if to say, "Why are you following us?" I smiled and she went to unloading e basket. The guy stopped and went on with his convo and the woman, got everything onto the counter and went back to looking at her phone, she made only stopped to get her charge card out and to sign the slip. All the while, she was thumbing her phone like a maniac....I don't think she looked up at the cashier once.

RICHARD - you nailed it my friend - one of my points about smart phones and (smart???) people expressed in the "RICHARD humor" version.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

- I never understood why people throw dirt on the ground when there is a wast bin not far away...
Is it laziness, or just plain stupidity?? I really don't get that, and it sometimes makes me very angry...
When I see an adult doing this, I don't react; but when I see a child doing this, I go ask her/him "don't you have a bin at home?"
Usually the child looks at me with an dumb look......

I now for sure (100%) that my kids who are adults now, never did this as a child, and never does it as an adult!!
Why don't parents teach this anymore to their kids???

- Why do some people never respect a waiting line of people and walk straight to the counter buy tickets or so?

- Why people pic up their phone and start talking loudly, no matter where they are, like in a shop, on a bus, in a wiring room at the doctor, etc....?? Don't they get it that this is disturbing for other people???

[RICHARD]

- I never understood why people throw dirt on the ground when there is a wast bin not far away...
Is it laziness, or just plain stupidity?? I really don't get that, and it sometimes makes me very angry...
When I see an adult doing this, I don't react; but when I see a child doing this, I go ask her/him "don't you have a bin at home?"
Usually the child looks at me with an dumb look......

I now for sure (100%) that my kids who are adults now, never did this as a child, and never does it as an adult!!
Why don't parents teach this anymore to their kids???

- Why do some people never respect a waiting line of people and walk straight to the counter buy tickets or so?

- Why people pic up their phone and start talking loudly, no matter where they are, like in a shop, on a bus, in a wiring room at the doctor, etc....?? Don't they get it that this is disturbing for other people???

I have put in some time in the doctor's waiting room and this is how it goes.....

Ring, ring. (or some obnoxious music...)

Hello?
I'm at the doctor.
Yes, No, I have been here since one.
No, they have called everyone except me, this is BS.

(Now, this is happening in a full room and the person on the phone is talking quite loudly?)

Yes, well I have my knee, it hurts and it's swollen. I called to make an appointment and I'm here.
I hate this, it's stupid, they should get a system in here that works....
Oh, goodbye.

(the phone rings again, an even more obnoxious tune?)

Hello?
I AM AT THE DOCTOR.
WHAT? TELL HIM TO GET OFF OF IT.
NO, TELL HIM I AM GOING TO BEAT HIM WHEN I GET HOME.
PUT HIM ON THE PHONE, NOW!
IF I HAVE TO COME HOME....NO, YOU BETTER BEHAVE!

Ugh.

-----------------

The other bugaboo I have about phones is when you are talking to someone and their phone rings.
They act as if it's the president or prime minister calling. They start to go spastic trying to get their phone out to answer the call.

They then proceed to turn around and walk away from you to finish their call.

OR?

You call someone and they put you on hold to take a call. Isn't that what v-mail is for?

---------

I own a cell phone and I check it about once a week. The only time I do carry it on my person is......NEVER.
If you want to talk to me, call the hard line phone number, I will pick it up. Otherwise leave a message because the person you have called is currently unavailable?

[kuhio98]

Call waiting!

When YOU called ME and we're having a nice chat and you get another call and want me to wait, I say NO and hang-up.

Unless you are a doctor on call for an organ transplant.....
Unless you are the President and there is a world crisis you need to weigh in on.....

The person calling you can wait and we should continue our conversation.

[phesina]

I'm with you there, RICHARD: You're talking with someone on the phone, and their call-waiting signals another call is coming in.. and they put you on hold to take it. They're in effect telling you: "Pardon me while I see if there's someone I'd rather talk to than you on the other line."

[phesina]

- I never understood why people throw dirt on the ground when there is a wast bin not far away...
Is it laziness, or just plain stupidity?? I really don't get that, and it sometimes makes me very angry...
When I see an adult doing this, I don't react; but when I see a child doing this, I go ask her/him "don't you have a bin at home?"
Usually the child looks at me with an dumb look......

I now for sure (100%) that my kids who are adults now, never did this as a child, and never does it as an adult!!
Why don't parents teach this anymore to their kids???

I'm with you completely on this one, Lut. Children learn from their parents' example how to deal with the outside world.

I've noticed that more often than not it's junk-food wrappers or cigarette butts or empty cigarette packs that are tossed out in public spaces. This makes me think that, since these people are okay about taking crap into their own bodies, they don't give a damn about throwing it out there for the rest of the world either.

[Lady's Human]

Celebrity "news".

They are largely people getting paid for their looks (there ARE intelligent actors/actresses, however, that's not why they're on the screen). Make movies, TV shows, and let it rest there. I don't care what your viewpoint on vaccination, global warming, or any other cause du jour is, nor do I want to hear them unless you have a degree or direct experience in what you're discussing. Dance, monkey, dance.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I'm with you completely on this one, Lut. Children learn from their parents' example how to deal with the outside world.

I've noticed that more often than not it's junk-food wrappers or cigarette butts or empty cigarette packs that are tossed out in public spaces. This makes me think that, since these people are okay about taking crap into their own bodies, they don't give a damn about throwing it out there for the rest of the world either.

Exactly!! I hate this so much!!
Hey, what would these people say when others throw all that stuff in their own frontyard???