IT CAN WAIT!

[justalurkr]

I am not mentioning my employer by name, but from time to time, I do drop broad hints. Still not mentioning them by name (mainly because I am no where near compliant with branding requirements and they take that seriously,) here is my contribution to the current campaign, which I actually take seriously:



With a birthday coming up that puts me within striking distance of a senior citizen's discount, I'm having more and more difficulty acting my age. In all seriousness, though, I do not now, nor have I ever understood how anyone ever thought texting while driving was a sane idea, let alone a good one.

So if you haven't already, PLEASE Take the Pledge.

Comments

[nialla]

I guess I'm lucky in that when I got my first phone, it was mainly for emergency purposes and that way of thinking stuck with me. I worked a job in which about once a month I had to work very late in a not-so-pleasant part of town. Plus we wanted my father to have a phone because there's been many times he's out in the field alone and might need to call for help and there was no one at home to answer the business radio.

I don't have my phone on my person at all times like so many do. I keep it in my purse, unless I'm expecting a call or text, which means I don't usually hear it when people call or text me. Even then, it can wait. I've had people (the ones addicted to their phone) get upset when I don't immediately respond. When I explain that I am not, under any circumstances going to use my phone while my car is in motion, it seems to fly right over their head.

I have never acted my age. Strangely, I acted older than my age while younger, now I'm apparently past that mysterious age and acting younger what with the geeking out and all. I think it's called "I'm older and don't give a shit what people think anymore."

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I think my eyes just crossed, and I haven't even looked at a coverage map for your area in a while. Does your dad still do this, and does he make a test call from time to time? I remember your mentioning a 911 mis-route at some point (which indicates some level of coverage) but it still scares me to think of anyone on any carrier in a rural area depending on a cell phone in the middle of a field (unless it happens to be line of sight with an interstate.)

After watching the shenanigans of my foremothers during the "I don't grow old gracefully, I fight it every step of the way" era, I made up my mind at, like, 11, that I was already old, so there. No getting old. Shows what an 11 year old who still has all their cartilage and none of their mortality experiences knows. :D

I'd decided that I'd tell the truth during years that ended in "0," but the looks on people's faces when I tell them I'm 50 and pushing 51 might be too priceless to give up and go back to being 42 (unless I lose the weight again, in which case I plan to push 37.) Hair color and moisturizer have both come a long way since my grandmother's day and alas, poor Ultrabrite! It has been so very surpassed in the tooth whitening department. I expect modern shenanigans on top of good genes and first world, upper middle class health care (along with a steadfast refusal to grow up and stop going to Dragon*con) are responsible for the endless double-takes I get when I speak the truth about my age.

[nialla]

The 911 issue is due to living very close to the county line. Emergency services in the town where I work could get here in less than 10 minutes, but they are no longer allowed to cross county lines. Instead, we have to wait for the only ambulance service in our home county to get here in about 20 minutes. And then ask for directions to the requested hospital (no word of a lie, that actually happened).

Our coverage is weird. Can only get texts in the library if I hold the phone correctly. No voice service. Even outside the library, it's crap service, with it sometimes dropping down to Edge instead of one bar of 3G. Go to the other side of town (less than a mile away) and you get 3G at 4 or 5 bars.

Out in boonieville, we actually get slightly better service, but I'm convinced we're about midway between two towers and the phone can't figure out which one is stronger, because the bars change constantly even if I'm sitting still. If I'm over at Tam's, which is only about a mile or two as the crow flies, I get a stable signal.

What's been really strange to me is that even though I've stopped coloring my hair and it's about 70% gray around my face and in varying percentages elsewhere, I've had more people not believe me when they learn how old I am than when I was coloring regularly. Apparently my genetics gave me early gray, but late wrinkles, so it balances out somehow.

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

I don't text. I have it switched off my phone. I don't like texting. Never have.

I do keep my phone with me at all times because I never know if I'm going to be needed for a family emergency.

And as far as acting your age, age is only a number. I'm learning that firsthand in real life so it's no longer just a philosophy. My boss is 16 years younger than me. The I'm old enough to be the mother of most of those I work with. The accountant is only a year younger than me and the boss man is maybe 2 years older. I don't behave young enough to hang with the yunguns', but I don't behave old enough to hang with the other folks my age. They're married and have kids and seem so much older in ways I'm not since I'm neither.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

Also, Gen Y or Millennials or whatever we're calling them don't seem to react to age the way we Boomers (don't trust anyone over 30) did. Around me, they get excessively respectful (if raised in other countries, especially in Africa) or study me like some exotic life form. Whenever a Greatest Generationer gloated and said something about "old age and treachery overcoming youth and skill," my Boomer eyes would narrow menacingly and I'd get to work. Millennials just look puzzled.

I always wondered what the next generation would do to freak the Boomers out. Now I know. :D