Walt Disney World reportedly banning selfie sticks from attractions

Jeff said:

Kids today don't know how hard it was. The terror and anxiety of being in middle school and wanting to call a girl, on a land line, is the worst thing anyone could experience.

The worst thing ever was when it was after 9:00 and her parents would pick up...

slithernoggin said:

But with that, yes, social skills and common manners -- and cursive writing (I read recently of siblings who found an older relative's diary in the attic, and had to find someone to read it to them. They couldn't decipher the cursive writing) -- are becoming lost.

My 18 year old sister knows how to write her name in cursive, but she has trouble actually writing writing in cursive. And they don't teach it at all in the schools around here, anymore, so if someone wants to learn cursive, it's gonna be from their family.

I think it is a shame we are losing cursive, especially considering things like our Constitution are written in a form of script. And I still find cursive and different types of handwriting to be almost an art. If you think about it, these kids aren't going to be able to read fancy wedding invitations or old love letters from their parents, etc.

There is a small part of me though that likes that they're not going to be able to read it; it eventually will be get to the point we can all speak in code. *laugh*

I must admit to being much more guilty of cell phone abuse since touchscreen smartphones came out. However, I'm still irritated when I'm hanging out with friends and their phones are blowing up constantly or they're texting when they're supposed to be giving me directions to a place I've never been before...it is BS. I hate sounding like a geezer, but I really feel we have lost a lot in all we've gained.

Long division, diagraming sentences, rotary dial, writing checks, spelling, grammar, making introductions, etc. etc.
I suppose one skill replaces another, and life for the young ones (even though they will complain about it) will be a lot easier. Or abbreviated, leaving time for more social interaction on their devices.

Sadly, many people seem to prefer social "interaction" on their devices over actually looking someone in the eye and saying something to them.

Every year, my Facebook blows up on my birthday with birthday wishes. While appreciated.... the thoughtful process of remembering someone's birthday, choosing a card just for them, writing a note in the card, addressing the envelope, putting a stamp on the envelope and dropping it in a mailbox has been replaced by seeing an alert on Facebook and spending seconds sending a greeting. For me, those FB birthday greetings are pretty much meaningless.

Cursive: in my box office we ask people to sign off on their tickets. Increasingly, people's "signatures" consist of printing their name in all caps.

Crap. I've turned into my grandfather.

I think most of today's kids will still be able to at least read cursive writing. It's kind of like old english font these days. I can read that just fine, but I can't write it with a calligraphy pen and ink like I suppose my ancestors did.

I stopped writing in cursive when I was about ten. It was never my style, I guess.

slithernoggin said:

For me, those FB birthday greetings are pretty much meaningless.

I think greeting cards for any purpose are stupid. I'm not sure why something that's more efficient becomes less meaningful. You can't possibly know the intent.

"May all of your birthday wishes come true." I've said that to my Facebook friends for years, and the thing is, I truly mean it. I think taking a few seconds to sincerely want for someone else to have happiness means something. It's like the opposite of putting a curse on someone. HAHA.

I love how the topic started off on the subject of selfie sticks at a theme park, and now we are talking about wishing someone happy birthday on Facebook.

For me -- sending a card requires an investment of time and thought. It's a way of saying to the recipient, "I thought about you and you're worth the effort to send this card." It's worth bearing in mind that I am a) hopelessly old, b) someone who collects and uses fountain pens and c) wretchedly vain about my beautiful handwriting.

To be clear: I'm not saying the FB birthday greetings aren't sincerely meant, just that they don't mean much to me.

LK: I've said it before. One reason I enjoy CB so much is the often interesting places conversations go.

This may be a crazy and unpractical idea, but if the technology exist to pick your face out with cameras then why couldn't a lift hill camera pick out a rectangular smart phone as you go up the lift, automatically alerting and sending the image to the ride operator so they can stop the ride and kick the person out of the park, if this could work it would be better than metal detectors..and yeah i know a regular camera isn't the same shape..just an idea.