How privileged are you?

[Meyer Jordan]

I remember having a 4-digit only phone number and if you wanted a private line you paid extra.

 

[MoonShadows]

I remember having a 4-digit only phone number and if you wanted a private line you paid extra.

No party line, @Meyer Jordan ? Now, that's class.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

No party line, @Meyer Jordan ? Now, that's class.

Now that was being privileged!

 

[sissy]

We called the operator and told them who we wanted to call in PA .All you did was pick up the phone and operator would then pick up .Our phone ring was 3 rings and it was for us .

 

[Nyboy]

I had left my house and driven about 3 miles when I realized I left my phone home. I kept telling myself it was ok for years I survived without phone. I had a panic attack and had to go home for phone.

 

[Nepen]

No for the last 4. We don't use more than 1 fork in Thailand . I know I'm privilege even from a 3rd world country. But I came here to be with my husband with nothing but 2 suitcases and $300 between me and him. We built what we have now from scratch. Started with minimum wage then work my way through my company from only skills. So the only thing I can claim privilege is my English skill (oh ok, that Bachelor degree too) that I got from my parents giving me the opportunity but to only know English in this country wasn't a plus (like in Thailand) so I started from zero.

 

[Nepen]

I had left my house and driven about 3 miles when I realized I left my phone home. I kept telling myself it was ok for years I survived without phone. I had a panic attack and had to go home for phone.

haha I did that too...

 

[MoonShadows]

I had left my house and driven about 3 miles when I realized I left my phone home. I kept telling myself it was ok for years I survived without phone. I had a panic attack and had to go home for phone.

Amazing how much we are conditioned by today's "norms". You can survive without a phone.

 

[MitchM]

I figure it's a good day when I leave my smartphone at home.
My wife, however, says we need to turn the truck around NOW!
(even though the only people we phone on that thing is each other, lol)

 

[MoonShadows]

@MitchM ...I can relate to a SO "needing" their phone.

 

[MoonShadows]

To be quite frank, if I didn't need to have a phone for our business, I wouldn't own one at all. I hate the devices.

 

[MitchM]

I like smartphones for their GPS locating services.
My wife was driving home in a snowstorm one night and went off the road. I was able to direct the tow truck driver to the exact location to find her. She was too upset to phone them herself.

 

[MitchM]

I probably don't have to state my obvious state of privilege.
A white heterosexual male living in western Canada.

 

[Lisak1]

We had a flat tire out of state last weekend and the emergency road service we called was able to locate us and send the tow truck by locating us on my phone. That was a good time to have a phone, as we had no idea where we were and there were no mile marker or road signs in sight. Plus it was dark and raining - not a good time to be at the side of the road.

As for kids needing phones for safety - that's an argument we hear all the time at school. But if something happens at school, what exactly is a parent going to do? You'll never get to school in time to do any good nor will you be able to get inside. Allowing kids to bring phones to school is the single worst thing that we have done in the last 15 years in education. They are more likely to get into trouble WITH their phone than they are being without one. Ever heard of Whispr? Or Kik? Or Yik Yak? Ask.fm? All ways kids get in trouble WITH their phones. Bad, life changing (or in really sad cases, life ending) trouble. Parents say "I need to know when to pick my kid up!" How about making plans BEFORE you drop them off? I can't tell you how many times we've had to stand and wait for a kid to get picked up after a school event because the parent is sitting at home waiting for a phone call and the little darling decides to wait until all his/her friends have been picked up and THEN make the call. So annoying - and boy was that convenient for all the other adults waiting around... keeping your kid safe!

And if parents think the kid isn't smart enough to leave their phone where they are SUPPOSED to be while they go where they WANT to be, well... the kid is smarter than the adults!

 

[DutchMuch]

Ever heard of Whispr? Or Kik? Or Yik Yak? Ask.fm?

I have heard of kik, the rest no