One of the good things the Army took from us for deployment was cell phones. Not that they confiscated the cell phones, but we were not allowed to walk and talk on cell phones from the beginning of training in Oklahoma through out-processing at Fort Dix. The ban included the blue light blinking ear pieces that allow the user to talk on the phone without holding the phone.
For several years before deployment I would be surprised by seeing someone walking toward me talking in an animated way to no one. It usually turned out to be a guy arguing with someone wearing one of the blue light ear pieces. The blue light made the guy look like some kind of animated out-of-shape alien.
This morning in Philadelphia a guy was walking toward me on the subway platform talking to himself. I thought he was on the phone because some phones work in stations now. But as he passed by waving his arms I realized he was actually crazy and talking to himself. He wasn't on the phone. In the last couple of weeks I have been in Boston and NYC and also seen real crazies, not guys just looking like lunatics but talking on ear pieces.
It's always nice to see Old School hanging on.
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Haha, just what I needed in the early am : ) Thanks Hollywood-
ReplyDeleteNikki
I still smile to myself when I see two people both talking on mobile phones near each other. I always wonder whether they're talking to each other. I'm still amazed by the power of the mobile phone, obviously. Old school.
ReplyDeleteWhen the first hands free things came out for cell phones, I was in the grocery store. Some guy was having a conversation with the bread. I thought he was a nut, but since I was off duty, I just tried to pick out my bread and move on...then I saw he was talking on a handsfree cell phone. He was still a freak...
ReplyDeleteThe Army made the ban on "talking and walking" because so many folks can't walk and chew gum..and they were getting run over by folks talking on cell phones while driving.
Like I train cops and soldiers on shooting...you can't drive and shoot at the same time...what makes you think you can carry on a long conversation and drive?
Focus on the task at hand...
The lure of multi-tasking is huge and bad. Because if you can multi-task, you clearly believe the two or more tasks require less than your full concentration. Since you have only one mind, it means bouncing back and forth among TV, email, phone, the road. But really, people can only multi-task mediocrity. Greatness always requires concentration.
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