Posted on 10/16/2011 4:29:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
This past week I saw a sad sight. No, it wasn’t Eric Holder trying to convince us that he’s now a terror exposing hero instead of the perpetrator of a deadly Mexican gunrunning op that had its sights set on ultimately getting our Second Amendment rights revoked—though that was pretty sad, as that dog wag had all the subtleties of a Chaz Bono rumba.
What eclipsed that miserable moment (sorta) and caused me grief this week was watching a young mom at Starbucks ignoring her beautiful, little one-year-old girl while said moron giggled and texted for 30 plus minutes.
Yep, with her head buried in the phone, nose two inches off the cancer screen, mommy dearest didn’t have a clue what her kid was doing as she crawled around on a high traffic, grime-laden cement floor between the feet of strangers who held 16- ounce cups of 180 degree liquid above the kid’s tender flesh as they high stepped over her.
Hey, parents, here’s a freebie from Dr. Doug: Why not put the cell phone and gadgets down for awhile when your babies are around and pay attention to them, all right, jackass? There’ll be plenty of time later in life to ignore them—like in college, when they pierce their nipples and become whiny liberal drips, but now, when they are very young, is not the time.
FYI to Y-O-U, mom … dad: You’ve got one shot at raising that baby, and if you want to make certain your spawn doesn’t:
1. Recite hate poems about you at Barnes & Noble’s open mic night regarding how they’d like to stab you in your sleep for ignoring them for the last sixteen years.
2. Show up high as a kite at a NYC Flea Party Rally, bitching and moaning about hard work and shouting up Che Guevara’s weltanschauung as they roast a fatty …
… then you might wanna give junior some TLC while he’s a T-O-T. You dig?
As I watched this neglect go down at Starbucks, I kept thinking that this daft dame could have cooed and cuddled with her little bambina and had 1,800 seconds of parental bliss that lovely morning.
The Starbucks I visited was on beautiful Miami Beach. Mom could have pointed out to baby the seagulls, the palm trees, the gorgeous skies, the warm sun, the six-foot three-inch trannie with a five o’clock shadow, the rats rummaging through the trash eating discarded ham and cheese paninis, and the ubiquitous metrosexuals with over-tweaked eyebrows who use seven words to order their special cup of Joe. It could’ve been both a bonding and educational familial exchange in one warm whack. But no. The bird had to text.
Here’s a challenge for the parental units: If you think I’m full of crap in regard to the ramifications of blowing your kids off as you obsess with texts and/or social media then let’s do an experiment: For the next 13 years abandon the developmental stages of that genetic concoction of yours, and we’ll see how they turn out as you snub them for Twitter. Are you ready? Okay. On your mark. Get set. Go, Slingblade!
Oh and by the way, conservatives and evangelicals … you, too, can be dilatory dillweeds as this sin knows no party or religious affiliation. I know stacks of family values blowhards out there yapping about the importance of family who haven’t talked to their own family in the last few weeks. Hey, dork, save your house first … then talk to us about ours. I know way too many ministers who strode forth to save the world and lost their kids in the process. Didn’t the apostle Paul say something to the effect that if you can’t govern your own house then you need to shut the hell up?
And finally, if my exhortation to selfless and sacrificial love for your kids versus your gadgets has failed to convince you to change your behavior toward your toddlers, perhaps a selfish plea will. Soon, parents, in the not too distant future, you will return to the dependent state from whence you came, and I’m a guessin’ that the child you ignored while he or she was in diapers will more than likely return the favor when you are sporting Depends.
I don’t understand the whole cell phone thing period unless work requires you to have one or your car’s dodgy...
I know people who claim they couldn’t survive without a cell phone. Some people are flat obsessed with this new technology.
Who wants to be “plugged in” 24/7?
Who really wants to waste that much time texting, yapping on the phone or hanging out at facebook voyeuristically viewing pics of friends and family or scouring for dirt on other people?
Don’t people have some sort of life? Hobbies? Goals?
Exactly.
The article stated that the mom was giggling, etc. it lasted for 30 minutes. Doesn’t sound like an “emergency” to me. The child was completely ignored in what could be a dangerous location. It is indicative of poor parenting skills. End of story.
My lament exaclty. I detest texting.
When I get a text message from someone, I reply once with the requested info.
If I get a second text, I will not reply. If it's some sort of emergency, I will make the call.
If/when I am asked why I didn't respond, I simply reply, "If you have to text me more than once for information, just dial my number and use your language skills to get the job done in 1000% less time."
A conversation via text is ONLY an option for me if a phone call is inappropriate or impossible in my current surroundings.
Texting while driving is my personal pet peeve and should be a hangin' offense.
Texting is another “social aid”. It’s like Facebook. People will not exchange phone numbers and talk, they will get requests and select time and place to respond, whenever.
He doesn't. But when you hear hoof beats, expect horses not zebras.
I believe texting is an addiction
I refuse to do it, blocked my teen from doing it or it would take over her life, as has happened to her peers
If you text for 30 minutes in Starbucks, you’ll be the idiot texter behind wheel of a car.
They don't answer the phone.
If they aren’t there leave a Voicemail.
They don't listen to the message.
Sending a text to my husband - "Pls get milk, ice. Tks." - is the communication form that is least disruptive for us both, and most likely to achieve the desired result.
..and I would never have thought of letting my children crawl around a place where folks come to drink hot hot coffee.
Maybe parents are more casual today....but I kept mine in strollers, or their carrying seats....or held them.
She disregarded the other customers.....in essence making them the baby sitters to her child.
Sure, maybe she needed 'down time'....and there was no one to watch her child....maybe she was ignorant of germs on the floor and hot coffee hovering above...
..but I cannot excuse the risk she took with her child.
You are right on. I got a cellphone two years ago for emergencies...like if my car blows up or I’m stuck in a blizzard. I have not used it once. Not even once.
I fought buying a cell phone for a long time.
Where I am the Rescue Squad(Ambulance ) is volunteer.
The Fire Board which does the dispatching put out the calls in a text message over the phone. We also have pagers, but the text message is a great help with the address, since it can be referred to at any time.
I also like it for when my wife and I go on trips, the kids can always get ahold of us when we are out of town.Sometimes I use it to call ahead to the Pizza place and have my pizza ready when I get there.
During the recent hurricane the p[ower lines were down and the hard line phones didn;’t work, the cell phone did.
They have their purpose,as does texting, but addiction to the thing is a problem for some people, I do not send texts, to me it is a waste of time whe a phone call suffices.
On many phones, text messages are easier to retrieve than voice mails.
I have a friend I go with to fundraisers, musical events and plays. If we drive separately, we have an unwritten rule that the first person there texts where they are and the general area where they parked. (No matter how well we plan, we always manage to arrive 10-20 minutes apart) The message can be checked at a stop light and there isn’t enough time for a voice mail.
It has practical applications, but I can’t use it for a full on conversation.
Our office got a new manager, a young MIT grad. In her first meeting with us she said the way to report an absence to her is not call, or even e-mail. No, she wants us to Text her. The ages of those in our office ranges from 40 to 60 and we’re all staring at each other in disbelief, all thinking the same thing, “she wants us to what?”
I suppose its just like my youth when my sisters would fight over the phone and take turns jabbering for hours on end.
4 well placed EMP weapons detonated about 120,000 ft above Los Angeles, New York, Washington and Chicago - that's be the end of that. Of course, that'd be the end of a lot of stuff too.
I have said those very words. All but the voice mail.
I find it useful to tell people short messages, like "on my way", "running late see you in a bit". That kind of thing.
I work with a guy having an affair with a married woman. She's texting him all day long. Or should I say "sexting" him. I just don't understand it.
I guess I understand the need for diversions but I'd rather log onto FR or The Blaze and see what the commies are up to. :)
A similar oft-stated thought; when the SHTF there will be millions of un-plugged drones without a clue... about anything.
I like my old flip phone. Makes calls, takes calls, stores some phone numbers, and figures out my resturant tip. That’s it, and I don’t want it to do anything else.
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