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Do your grandchildren know how a telephone works?


Alpo

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I got an email today from my bank. Warning me about scams. Listing how several different types of scams work.

 

>Grandparent Scam

The caller will claim to be your grandchild. They will then claim to have been arrested, injured or lost their wallet and need money right away. Ask the caller to answer a personal question only your grandchild will know. Check your grandchild’s whereabouts by hanging up and calling your grandchild directly. Chances are, your grandchild is just fine.<

 

 

Check by hanging up and calling my grandchild directly. Hmmm. My grandchildren don't know how a telephone works. They know how texting works, but every time I've called either one of them it just goes to voicemail. And they never call back. They will text me, but they don't call.

 

I really don't think they're aware that you can do actual voice communication on that phone.

 

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My grandson has called me three times in his life. It always seems like when I call him he is in class or at a school band function and cannot answer. I learn this via a text. 

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The younger grandson seldom call anyone. He’ll text now and then, but usually he doesn’t communicate at all.

 

 The other day he called his dad who lives with us.  All he wanted was for his dad to wish the family dog a happy fifteenth birthday!!

 

Three weeks later and my son is still grumbling about that one!!:lol: :lol: :lol:

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5 hours ago, Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 said:

I just don't get the fascination with texting.  I know I'm an old troglodyte, but I just don't get it.  It drives my grandkids nuts that I only have and use a flip phone. 

Texting is great for loud environments or quick questions.   I can text a question and be back to what I was doing quicker than you can get the phone out of your pocket, flip it open to say hello.  

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53 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

I've adjusted pretty well to texting. It has some advantages.

It can be useful, if I need a address or phone number, I can have someone text it to me instead of me having to write it down. Same for directions. But what Alpo is referring to is texting INSTEAD of just talking. THAT I don't get either. 

I can see leaving somebody a message if your NOT having a conversation with them, but CONVERSING through text is just stupid, IMHO.

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Still have my land line and it is used the most and NO voice mail...I do not text...My flip phone will receive a call  and make a call...Other than that, I do nothing else with it...Five minutes of texting equals 30 second phone call...

 

Texas Lizard

 

Old school...Maybe...But happy...

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"Indirect" communication often has its uses. We found that 35 years ago in law offices when voicemail came along.

 

My flip phone, which I used until about a year and a half ago, until it wouldn't take a charge, handled texts. But it was the old system with the phone pad as the key system. If, like me, you insisted on proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization, it could be painstaking to use.

 

The iPhone does make it easier. Text can also be more convenient for everybody than email when, in fact, you need to send....text.

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13 minutes ago, Texas Lizard said:

Still have my land line and it is used the most and NO voice mail...I do not text...My flip phone will receive a call  and make a call...Other than that, I do nothing else with it...Five minutes of texting equals 30 second phone call...

 

Texas Lizard

 

Old school...Maybe...But happy...

I also have a landline, with no voicemail. I shut THAT off as soon as I got the line installed. I do have an answering machine. And I'm still rocking a flip phone. I use the phone to make and receive calls, and I do use the camera, but not much. Pretty much to take a pic that I will send to my email, (via text). 

When I need to give my number to someone, they get the landline.

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I never had a cell phone until I inherited my wife's tiny already-ancient LG flip phone.  The service never supported texting, which was a nightmare on those things anyway.  When Verizon's 3G went belly-up, they eventually sent me a brand spanking new flip phone that is easily twice the size of the old one - nice big screens, much bigger buttons, actually can connect to the internet - at an abysmally slow rate...But, the service still doesn't support texting, although Verizon can text ME when they want money, or to thank me for sending them some.   As far as I'm concerned, that's enough texting for me.  I prefer to hear the voice of the person with whom I'm trying to communicate.  I grew up interpreting meaning through pitch, stress, and juncture.  To me, much preferable than trying to figure out someone's intentions by reading lower case, all caps, emoji's, etc.

 

Anyway, to Alpo's question, since my grandson can't text me, he does actually call and verbally communicate.  In addition, he gets a kick out of occasionally using my old push button phone that I keep for my land line when the power goes out - on average twice a year or so.  When it happens, I still have phone service running on the phone company's batteries/whatever...Unplug the slightly old-fashioned answering machine/phone that needs house power to operate, plug in the old basic black pushbutton, and I'm good to go.  So, in the literal sense of the question, yes, the kid does know how to use a (real) telephone, actually thinks "it's kind of cool in a weird sort of way" - his words, not mine.

 

CS

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I use text, short ones, a fair amount. I'm as much an atavistic throwback as anyone, but it has its place. Confirm tomorrow's lunch; save the conversation for the lunch.

 

Every communication does not require a conversation. Sometimes, in fact, writing communicates better than conversation.

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Texting was made popular when it cost money to make calls.  Kids found out that they could text in almost

unlimited amounts on early cell phone plans, so it became the preferred choice.  Later fixed cost plans did little

to change that already adopted approach, and texting took off with all it's additional capabilities (emojis, pictures, etc.).

 

It is a passive communications system - you don't have to respond right away, you can wait.

 

I've always advised my staff that they cannot say that they have contacted someone if they have sent an e-mail or a text,

nor left a voice mail.  They must have actually talked to the individual to say they contacted them.

 

SC

 

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When I moved into this house 17+ years ago.  I set up this phone in the living room.  Soon I noticed a couple of my young little cousins staring at the phone.  Then it finally dawned on me that they had never seen a dial telephone before.

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24 minutes ago, punxsutawneypete said:

When I moved into this house 17+ years ago.  I set up this phone in the living room.  Soon I noticed a couple of my young little cousins staring at the phone.  Then it finally dawned on me that they had never seen a dial telephone before.

 

My now 23-year-old grandson at about 10 found our old dial phone in our basement, where it was still hooked up. His grandma was there, as he picked up the receiver and started to punch at the numbers...

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I got one of those calls a few years ago saying he was a police officer in Cleveland and my grandson was in jail and needed bail money.  He was being held on a drug charge.  I asked to talk to him.  He was being processed.  I told the guy on the line to have Jeff call me when he could. He said he would. I told him my grandson's name was NOT Jeff and I had spoken to him two hours earlier where he was staying with other grandparents in California.

 

The lie went dead before I could even get my  litany of profanity going.

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23 hours ago, Alpo said:

I got an email today from my bank. Warning me about scams. Listing how several different types of scams work.

 

>Grandparent Scam

The caller will claim to be your grandchild. They will then claim to have been arrested, injured or lost their wallet and need money right away. Ask the caller to answer a personal question only your grandchild will know. Check your grandchild’s whereabouts by hanging up and calling your grandchild directly. Chances are, your grandchild is just fine.<

 

 

Check by hanging up and calling my grandchild directly. Hmmm. My grandchildren don't know how a telephone works. They know how texting works, but every time I've called either one of them it just goes to voicemail. And they never call back. They will text me, but they don't call.

 

I really don't think they're aware that you can do actual voice communication on that phone.

 

Happened to my sister, her granddaughter called and said she was in jail and needed money to get out. She was whispering and my sis couldn't tell who it was. She has twin granddaughters. My sister asked why she was in jail and the voice said "I was drinking and driving and got caught." My sister then asked, "Is this Alex"? She said yes. My sister then said "Well I know this is not Alex because you hate alcohol ", they hung up!

My sister was a smart cookie. I miss her, she passed away 4 years ago.

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If my Grandson ever calls looking for funds, I will likely freak. We have no kids, so therefore no grandkids! Fun to play along with them though.

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