What's your stance vs the eyes-glued-to-smartphone zombie generation?

[smo]

For sometime now I've decided not to yield way to one such when we are both walking head on from opposite direction on the sidewalk. Most of the time right before collision they do "wake up" at the last second and steer away from me. Good for them because I am already bracing myself with elbows sticking out. In my building I stop playing the nice guy holding door open for them when they come up from behind me, or asking for their floor and pushing the button for them in the elevator while they barely glance up from their attachment. I have realized that for this breed, common courtesy is not a concept that features in their everyday life survival manual.

 

Today I ran into a new height of self-entitlement. Outside the mall there is one elevator tower that goes directly to the top two floors where the gym and the cineplex are. Naturally not many shoppers use this lift. When I got there -on the ground floor- there was already a young guy standing there, presumably "waiting" (you can see where I'm heading) for the elevator. He was tall, standing close to the front where the up button is, so I couldn't see whether it was lit up - but by default of having someone standing there presumably "waiting," I assumed it was. The guy meantime was yakking away on his phone. After a rather long while and the elevator door had yet to open, I stepped up to see whether the up button had been pushed: no, it had not. In short, he merely - emphasis on the adverb - waited (and did nothing else) for the elevator to come down, either by force of nature, or by a third party, but definitely and literally not by his moving one finger to make that happen! So it was up to me to stick my finger out and push the button, and when the door finally opened, of course he was the quickest to jump in.

 

It is a sad day for me, when I have to stop and double take whether the "person" next to me has any consideration for my personal well being, or is simply poised to take advantage of my innate wish, of a human being, to help others. "Invasion of the body snatchers" is truly happening!

Edited September 6, 2017 by smo

[BuaBS]

Ignore them like they ignore you.

 

I like the smartphone generation. Give the kids a phone as soon as possible . Kids on their smartphone are quiet and passive .... now get off my lawn !

[Gracas]

There is a place in this world for everyone.... Their place should be standing in the corner out of the way of everyone else.

[Aussieroaming]

I have a habit of holding doors open for people and then feeling pissed when they walk through without any acknowledgement. Everyday i chant the same mantra " i will not hold the door open today" and inevitably I do and then get the shites when i get treated like an inanimate object. But once i a while someone appreciates it and makes it worthwhile.

[richard_smith237]

Good rant... Your sentiments are almost universally understood and agreed with, particularly holding the door open for others...

 

However, You seem to be admitting to deliberately walking into people with is a pretty 'dickish' thing to do and seems to contravene your moral standards and up bringing.

 

Unfortunately, we're surrounded by people who are spatially unaware and ignorant of those around them.

 

There is one thing I do like about living here...  the ignorance is innocent, the carelessness is accidental, I compare this to Western cities where there is often an subtle level of aggression protecting a deliberate spacial definition which if imposed upon leads to an unwelcome verbal comment or look of complete distain...  Life is too short, roll with the minor stuff, it can get up your nose but the alternatives are often worse. 

 

---

 

That said, a couple of days ago I raised my voice at the guy in front of me, I was pushing my Son in his push chair, the guy and his GF in front pushed the door open and let it swing back into the push chair... agitated, I asked the guy "Whats wrong with you?"... his look showed he had no idea what he'd done !... 

Today in a similar situation as I passed through a door I left a trailing hand to keep it open for the woman behind me (Thai) who smiled and said thank you...  Not all is lost !

 

Ultimately its better to have no expectation of others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by richard_smith237

[Dipterocarp]

The only time I found such courtesy unappreciated was about 30 years ago on a US college campus. A very "butch" looking woman gave me a lecture in radical feminism for holding a door for her.

The smartphone zombies will be gone in some years. Your phone will be a small device in a pocket and people will be looking through "google glass" type device or even contact lenses. People will be even more connected to tech and even less engaged with actual humans.




Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Ulysses G.]

In my day they did the same thing with little portable video games. It annoys me, but I am used to these zombies. 

[jeab1980]

Heard that before in the late 70's early 80's with a diffrent twist I think it was called the walkman generation.

Edited September 7, 2017 by jeab1980

[dotpoom]

Like many others it is a pet hate of mine too.

   3 instances in the last 2 days that I experienced.

   While on the road to Bang Saray on my motorbike I met the usual....another person coming against me on his whong side of the road, ok...I'm used to that now, but this guy was "playing" his phone and overtaking a pedestrian at the same time, which meant me having to pull out doubly far, onto this "racetrack" of a road, to carry on (by the way, at this point I'd like to say, I think people driving the wrong way up a soi should be the one's expected to pull out onto the main drag, not the person going in their correct direction).

   The next thing I notice developing is the habit of Never leaving the phone out of the hand even while driving a motorbike. They have it constantly at the ready so they can easily glance at the road occasionally.

   The third instance was a mother and daughter walking ahead of me in a shopping mall heading for the escalator. As usual, the daughter was playing the phone....just as she got to the first step she stopped dead in her tracks looking at something on same phone. The crowd behind us quickly built up. What did the mother do....nudge her to get on with it or something?....not lightly. She put her arm around the girl's neck in order to get a closer look at her phone and they both burst out laughing.

  I must be honest though, I glanced at the people behind me and it appeared I was the only person that this behaviour bothered.

  Of coursr I'v twiged this long ago with the driving. They are not bothered because they don't even notice it.....why ...because they do exactly the same....it's the way it's been since the day they were born.

[csabo]

"Good for them because I am already bracing myself with elbows sticking out."

 

I have been doing this for years.  I am a big solid mass and I was zigzagging all over the place to avoid shoppers 1/3 my size to avoid collisions when walking through the mall.  I noticed people think if they keep their head down they can just walk straight and let everyone else get out of the way.  No more.  I have sent people crashing to the floor bags flying everywhere clutching their shoulders in pain.  I especially love the bonus rounds when I catch people walking backwards not looking where they are going.  CRUUUUNCH!  And how about the grocery store shoppers who stand in the center of an aisle deciding on an item while completely blocking other shoppers and ignoring them as they approach.  Imagine a steam roller vs a chicken.

[1FinickyOne]

And to think - some people actually have real problems... 

 

Sure, it can be annoying, though actually having to push the "up button" puts you in the elite of having not much to worry about...

 

The other day I had a kid coming straight at my vehicle, he on a motorcycle, looking at his phone. I didn't want to honk my horn for fear of scaring him - he came to his senses and went back into his lane... 

 

good luck and chill out. 

[mstevens]

8 minutes ago, csabo said:

"Good for them because I am already bracing myself with elbows sticking out."

 

I have been doing this for years.  I am a big solid mass and I was zigzagging all over the place to avoid shoppers 1/3 my size to avoid collisions when walking through the mall.  I noticed people think if they keep their head down they can just walk straight and let everyone else get out of the way.  No more.  I have sent people crashing to the floor bags flying everywhere clutching their shoulders in pain.  I especially love the bonus rounds when I catch people walking backwards not looking where they are going.  CRUUUUNCH!  And how about the grocery store shoppers who stand in the center of an aisle deciding on an item while completely blocking other shoppers and ignoring them as they approach.  Imagine a steam roller vs a chicken.

 

I scratch my head and wonder about this.  If you see someone coming your way and anticipate that they might collide with you, why would you allow that to happen even if they are playing with their phone.  Yes, they might be self-absorbed and yes, you might be able to argue that by them not looking they were at fault, but in my estimation you're every bit at fault as them because you saw them coming and chose not to do anything about it and let it happen!

 

Imagine if they fell over and hurt themselves or even if their phone fell and the screen cracked.  Would you not feel guilty knowing that, at the minimum, you were a contributing factor - because you could have avoided that happening?

 

Yes, it is annoying when people walk around like this - I am with you 100% on that - but I think allowing someone to walk in to you when it could be so easily avoided is just plain silly and ungentleman-like.

[csabo]

1 minute ago, mstevens said:

 

I scratch my head and wonder about this.  If you see someone coming your way and anticipate that they might collide with you, why would you allow that to happen even if they are playing with their phone.  Yes, they might be self-absorbed and yes, you might be able to argue that by them not looking they were at fault, but in my estimation you're every bit at fault as them because you saw them coming and chose not to do anything about it and let it happen!

 

Imagine if they fell over and hurt themselves or even if their phone fell and the screen cracked.  Would you not feel guilty knowing that, at the minimum, you were a contributing factor - because you could have avoided that happening?

 

Yes, it is annoying when people walk around like this - I am with you 100% on that - but I think allowing someone to walk in to you when it could be so easily avoided is just plain silly and ungentleman-like.

You are falling for it.  They see you coming.  They just act like they don't.  People like this don't get my gentleman-like service.  Sorry sucker.  You keep zigzagging.  Not me.

[Blackheart1916]

26 minutes ago, mstevens said:

 

I scratch my head and wonder about this.  If you see someone coming your way and anticipate that they might collide with you, why would you allow that to happen even if they are playing with their phone.  Yes, they might be self-absorbed and yes, you might be able to argue that by them not looking they were at fault, but in my estimation you're every bit at fault as them because you saw them coming and chose not to do anything about it and let it happen!

 

Imagine if they fell over and hurt themselves or even if their phone fell and the screen cracked.  Would you not feel guilty knowing that, at the minimum, you were a contributing factor - because you could have avoided that happening?

 

Yes, it is annoying when people walk around like this - I am with you 100% on that - but I think allowing someone to walk in to you when it could be so easily avoided is just plain silly and ungentleman-like.

Because maybe if you get them out of the head down habit it may save their life- next time it might be a bus, not a person

 

[reenatinnakor]

Lol you got pissed because you had to push some button? Looks like you're too old for this world mate.

[Thaidream]

I refuse to have a smart phone and will never have one. I refuse to be tracked and I refuse to submit to the likes of Facebook; Instagram and all the other crap that is completely worthless. While a smartphone may have some utility- I just don't want to be part of a new generation that is addicted to a machine. 

 

I see the zombies everywhere- and I could almost stomach it if I thought people were actually learning something from looking at their devices. They are learning nothing- playing games; reading  useless messages about things of no real value and looking at silly ass videos put into the system by the creators of the devices as click bait so they can sell  ads and make millions of dollars. I chastise my wife and daughter for having joined the zombie generation-but it is useless. I just laugh and smile and let them be- comforted in knowing I will never join them in their addiction.

[sturdyd]

The allure of smartphones continues to elude me. I have one, of course, but it sits idle most of the time. I'm a computer guy mostly. Started with DOS, went through all versions of Windows and currently have one machine running Win7, one Win10 and one with Ubuntu Linux. And you know what? Android makes me feel stupid! I just don't get the nuance.  It seems less an operating system and more an advertising platform. I suppose I could learn more, but I'm just not interested. But no animosity to the zombie kids. As long they're responsible about it, heck, rock on.

[jeab1980]

26 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

I refuse to have a smart phone and will never have one. I refuse to be tracked and I refuse to submit to the likes of Facebook; Instagram and all the other crap that is completely worthless. While a smartphone may have some utility- I just don't want to be part of a new generation that is addicted to a machine. 

 

I see the zombies everywhere- and I could almost stomach it if I thought people were actually learning something from looking at their devices. They are learning nothing- playing games; reading  useless messages about things of no real value and looking at silly ass videos put into the system by the creators of the devices as click bait so they can sell  ads and make millions of dollars. I chastise my wife and daughter for having joined the zombie generation-but it is useless. I just laugh and smile and let them be- comforted in knowing I will never join them in their addiction.

But you obviously have a computer! You think you cant be tracked on that to your home address. People who work online need to be able to act on orders at any time if threre away from home hence smart phones. 

There is no point in burying your head in th 20th century. Embrace technology and make it work for you.

If someone wants to know that im walking round a mall shopping who cares. They k ow anyway its called CCTV.

[Thaidream]

Actually, I have no real animosity to them.  It's that they have  no real understanding of human interaction and the World around them.  They look and act as they have become artificial intelligence controlled by an unseen force making billions off their ignorance. I just refuse to become part of the robot generation

[IAMHERE]

I think Rome would have lasted many more centuries if they could have put the Circus live onto smart phones. 

[MaksimMislavsky]

14 hours ago, smo said:

there was already a young guy standing there, presumably "waiting" (you can see where I'm heading) for the elevator. He was tall, standing close to the front where the up button is, so I couldn't see whether it was lit up - but by default of having someone standing there presumably "waiting," I assumed it was. The guy meantime was yakking away on his phone. After a rather long while and the elevator door had yet to open, I stepped up to see whether the up button had been pushed: no, it had not. In short, he merely - emphasis on the adverb - waited (and did nothing else) for the elevator to come down, either by force of nature, or by a third party, but definitely and literally not by his moving one finger to make that happen! So it was up to me to stick my finger out and push the button, and when the door finally opened, of course he was the quickest to jump in.

The finest example of "go with the flow" ever! 

[Global Guy]

1 hour ago, csabo said:

"Good for them because I am already bracing myself with elbows sticking out."

 

I have been doing this for years.  I am a big solid mass and I was zigzagging all over the place to avoid shoppers 1/3 my size to avoid collisions when walking through the mall.  I noticed people think if they keep their head down they can just walk straight and let everyone else get out of the way.  No more.  I have sent people crashing to the floor bags flying everywhere clutching their shoulders in pain.  I especially love the bonus rounds when I catch people walking backwards not looking where they are going.  CRUUUUNCH!  And how about the grocery store shoppers who stand in the center of an aisle deciding on an item while completely blocking other shoppers and ignoring them as they approach.  Imagine a steam roller vs a chicken.

There is little consideration for others in general in Thailand.  I walk down a sidewalk, coming towards me in the other direction are three people, walking side by side taking up the entire sidewalk. When they approach me, you would think that the person who is directly in front of me would move behind their friends so we can all walk by each other.

 

But no, they stay walking side by side, still taking up the entire width of the sidewalk. What am I supposed to do? I can't walk through the cement buildings on one side and I'm not moving over into moving traffic on the other. It is at this time I adjust my earphone and coincidentally my elbow is in front of me while I do this. If someone cares so little to move and they walk into my elbow with their face, that is their problem. So many people still don't move and yes, they elbow themselves in the face or shoulder.

 

I think this is stupid, but the only remaining alternative is let them smash into me. I can't just disappear and I'm not jumping to traffic to get hit by a car. 

 

It's particularly crazy when people have umbrellas. I constantly swat them away from my face because they'll walk with the point sticking right at people walking towards them.

 

Another daily stupid thing, but it is what it is...Thailand is filled with people with the intellect of puppies and Teletubbies. Impulsive and short-sighted with only instant gratification in mind.

[marquis22]

Live with it, it is here to stay!

Once upon a time, it was books and newspapers, but now phones and tablets.

[trd]

The smartphone has heralded the end of civilization as we know it. Brain death is the inevitable outcome.

[eeyang wah]

2 hours ago, dotpoom said:

 

  I must be honest though, I glanced at the people behind me and it appeared I was the only person that this behaviour bothered.

  Of coursr I'v twiged this long ago with the driving. They are not bothered because they don't even notice it.....why ...because they do exactly the same....it's the way it's been since the day they were born.

A very astute and interesting observation. Thank you.

[idman]

Manners and common sense have gone the way of the dodos in Thailand and it will only get worse No matter their so called social status the youth, Millenials, Gen Xers all seem to have a highly inflated sense of self. You can see it on a daily basis just about everywhere you go. I abhore bad manners and when it comes from these Thai brats I stand my ground and let them have it. WIth my size and bearing they pay attention and get the message. And by the way bad manners from the Twapackers, Chinese, Eurotrash and repugnant Expats receive the same treatment.

[eeyang wah]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

There is one thing I do like about living here...  the ignorance is innocent, the carelessness is accidental, I compare this to Western cities where there is often an subtle level of aggression protecting a deliberate spacial definition which if imposed upon leads to an unwelcome verbal comment or look of complete distain...

Another excellent observation. Thank you too.

[Thaidream]

I do agree with the poster- in Thailand- the action is based upon ignorance and I do not see any type of malice. Thais are just oblivious to what is around them and live in their own immediate World.  While it can be irritating at times- it is simply a cultural event that one has to get used to.....

[Global Guy]

1 minute ago, Thaidream said:

I do agree with the poster- in Thailand- the action is based upon ignorance and I do not see any type of malice. Thais are just oblivious to what is around them and live in their own immediate World.  While it can be irritating at times- it is simply a cultural event that one has to get used to.....

"Has to get used to?" You mean, letting people smash into you all the time? I prefer my approach, letting them smash into my elbow when I'm adjusting my earphone. I remember when I was in a wheelchair, and then on crutches after a motorcycle accident. People wold push me, bump into me, and not open doors for me all the time. One time this guy was pushing me to move faster in a crowd when I was on my crutches. I turned around, put one of the crutches on his foot and put all my weight on it. He stopped pushing me at that point. Thais just don't care. It's not innocent, it's selfish.

[Thaidream]

It is definitely selfish- but  they interact with each other in the same way- they are not doing it out of malice or hatred. It is pure ignorance. Thais are constantly bumping into me even when I try and get out of the way. Most seem to lack civility but I have found that in so many places that I have visited be it in the West or the East- there is a lack of civility. I don't know if it is because there is a lack in parenting; schools not incorporating it into their curriculum; or just a general degeneration in common sense. When I was in school, albeit eons ago, some of the behavior one sees today would never be tolerated nor would my parents have allowed it.