Born in the wrong century!

[AnneM]

Am I alone in getting SOOOOOOO darned frustrated by the "modern" world ?

Today's problem (and is only one example of so many!) was that I am expecting a mobile phone (Cell phone) to be delivered to my work address. This is a pretty SIMPLE REQUEST!! ... I have been expecting it since Monday and it didn't appear then, it didn't appear today and finally I am told it will be there tomorrow! ...(yeah yeah sure!)

Everytime I phone the company to find out what is happening I am confronted by the "If you are calling about a,b,c, press 1, if you are calling about d,e,f press 2 ..." and so on ... and then when you press one of them you get ANOTHER list blah blah blah .... Added to this NONE of the options seems to match what I am calling about anyway so I press another option at random and the automated voice then said "We are sorry but this service is unavailable at present due to technical difficulties ... please try later!"

I am fed up with being confronted with all these "options" everytime I call ANY company at all !! ... I am fed up with FINALLY, FINALLY getting through to a human being and then being told that actually I need to be transferred to (yet) another department so I will be put on hold .... again ... !! I am also fed up with TECHNICAL difficulties!!

and THEN sometimes you are left in complete limbo ... or the phone goes dead and you end up having to dial the "central" number again ... and off you go again on "If you are calling about a,b or c press 1.... "

Sometimes I really think the modern world is NOT the right time zone for me ... I often think I should have been born a hundred years ago where everyday life was so much "simpler" !!

[kurs10b]

Try just hitting 0. A lot of times it will take you right to an operator.

[AnneM]

Thanks Kurs ... Not sure if this will also work in the UK but I sure am game to give it a try!!

But this isn't ONLY about phones ... its about the whole spectrum of "modern life" ... the internet is another one ... when you fill in something for an "instant quote or whatever" and then it wants a reference number or something that you just don't HAVE handy at that moment and the past 10 minutes of filling out the form is then trashed just because you didn't "happen" to have that little number handy !! .. and then you might finally FIND the "reference number" you were looking for only to find that "The page has expired" !! ... and you have to start all over again!!

[camismom]

I am right there with you on this Anne! Right there with you! Maybe that is why I love history so much..... an era gone by that like you said seemed so much simpler, as well as safer. I used to picture myself there growing up.

But I so agree with what you are saying. You can't call anywhere these days and actually get a human being!

[camismom]

Talk about fitting your gripe! Cami sent this to me ealier and I found it appropriate for this thread:

Most of us have now learned to live with voice mail as a necessary part of our lives. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing the following:

> Thank you for calling heaven.
>
> For English press 1
> For Spanish press 2
> For all other languages, press 3
>
> Please select one of the following options:
> Press 1 for request
> Press 2 for thanksgiving
> Press 3 for complaints
> Press 4 for all others
>
>
> I am sorry, all our Angels and Saints are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line.
>
>
> If you would like to speak to:
> God, press 1
> Jesus, press 2
> Holy spirit, press 3
>
> To find a loved one that has been assigned to heaven press 5, then enter his social security # followed by the pound sign. If you receive a negative response, please hang up and dial area code 666.
>
>
>
> For reservations to heaven, please enter JOHN followed by the numbers, 3:16.
>
>
> For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, life and other planets, please wait until you arrive in heaven for the specifics.
>
>Our computers show that you have already been prayed for today, please hang up and call again tomorrow.
>
>The office is now closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday.
>
>
> If you are calling after hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local pastor.
>
> Thank you and have a heavenly day.

[AnneM]

;D ;D ;D Oh Christy that is PERFECT and basically "says it ALL !!" ... ;D ;D ;D

[Linda]

Anne...look at it this way If you were born 100 years ago....You wouldn't have lived to the age you are now!

[milesofsmiles]

Try just hitting 0. A lot of times it will take you right to an operator.

I found another option to use to get to talk to someone right away is to use "If you would like to cancel this service push xxx" Then they bend over backwards to help you and keep you.

But I hear you, sometimes it would be nice to explain the problem instead of pushing buttons. I also like it when I have been following their menu options and get about 8 transfers deep, and suddenly and mysteriously get disconnected.

Miles

[kstquilter]

i agree with being irritated about phone menus. however, i'll stay in this century, thank you very much! i want my usually reliable electricity, my car, my computer, air conditioning, phones, women's sports, and all the other conveniences of today. i'm not interested in working on a farm or making every single thing i own! i am able to be a person in her own right even if there is no spouse. i can vote, be educated and drive a car.
i think the last century seems nice in pace of life aspects, otherwise, i think i'll stay here!
karen

[milesofsmiles]

This century is great with all of its conveniences, but I think something is missing, and it was not missing 2 or 3 generations ago. I get the feeling that today everyone is going their own way, there is no sense of community, and sometimes family. I think back then if you wanted something then you had to work for it, it made sense to do it with others so you could get it done faster and better. Now you just have to sit behind a computer and click. A day later you have what you ordered from the internet. No longer even have to leave your home to get things or associate with people. I think that is what is missing.

Sorry to get so heavy, I am on a roll.

Miles

[Kaiti]

OK, playing the devils advocate here on Karen and Anne.

I can make my own things. They might not be the most fabulous or wanted but they are mine. :DI can't get them taken away because I didn't pay off a loan to the bank or car place. We own everything we have----except our house, but that's a biggy.

We don't do rent a center, or fast loans. Not to say everyone does, btu the only thing we owe are the basics.....electric, phone, ok cable isn't basic......but our trucks are pasid off and the boat was borrowing from MIL, sothat doesn't count towards credit......sometimes good/bad, depending how you look at it.

Now as for Anne, if we were back a hundred years, we wouldn't be here, we wouldn't have developed this family and we certainly wouldn't be trying to help our kids without beating the tar feathers out of them, only to realize, it doesn't work anyway.

OK, Miles back to putting it nicer.

But I don't regret sittin gon hold, like last night with the internet provider, if it means that I can come here and it feels like home.

:-XOh instead of pressing 0, trying holding with out pressing anything like you have a rotary dial, that might work better

[mothercat]

;D ;D ;D most kids today dont know how to dial a rotary phone ;D ;D I dont think it is a problem of going back 100 yrs..more likely a problem of too much... too fast and too big ..too fast. We need to slow down with all the techno crapola and take it easier. Maybe working out the bugs before putting it out there to the public would be a nice thing for a change.
As for living 100 yrs ago..unless you got a disease or pestulence I think it wouldn't be so horrible..but then I am happiest outside working .

Maybe instead of 100yrs we could go back to say the 50's when families were families and the "wizard of oz" was new. The prob with technology is that unless you have a hammer in your hand the machines dont know you are angry and when they find out they dont care.
Maybe in the 50's you wouldn't have gotten the press 1 if, press 2 if, ..you would've gotten some nice lady like Lillie Tomlin asking you what why when who and how come... (everyone knew the operator back then...she was sort of like the moderators of today) ;D
they were well loved people.

[tridlette]

'yah, I was thinking about the late 50's also. Decent music, decent cars, decent medicine, decent pay, decent kids. Still the Yes Ma'am, No Sir age, but enough modern conveniences to be convenient and not thoroughly pervasive in life. The Ozzie and Harriet times.

My favorite TV show is still "the Walton's" because even though the family wanted for everything, they learned to Make Do with what they could afford, and spent a lot of time with Family and Friends, and they shared what they had no matter what. And THEY KNEW THEIR NEIGHBORS!

[kstquilter]

i also make alot of my own things but i don't have to do all of them. it's more for relaxation and enjoyment instead of necessity. we just bought a car so we still owe on that and have one credit card that doesn't get paid off every month, otherwise, it's just the house.
there were things about the 50's i liked but i barely tolerated growing up in the 60's and 70's as a girl, let alone the 50s. i'll still take all the opportunities available today.
i will also take this board as someone else said over the way our kids were treated in the past and still are today.
the one thing i probably miss the most from growing up is what trid said, we knew our neighbors. we've had it once as several years ago and i miss it alot. i guess that's why i'd like to get away from living near a large city and be a little further out in a little smaller town, less traffic, less rushing. however if you get too small you get into everyone knowing your business and i'm not wild about that aspect.
now that my kids are older tho, i feel like we are able to slow down a little which i'm enjoying. ed and i are able to spend more time together, just the two of us and the kids run themselves around!
overall, i'd have to say i'm pretty happy where i am!
karen

[AnneM]

Well ... I have to say many of you have certainly reminded us of the ADVANTAGES of living TODAY rather than 100 years ago!! ... ;D Maybe I could rephrase what I said originally and instead say : "I just wish they would TONE EVERYTHING DOWN A LITTLE" or "BRING BACK THE HUMAN BEING!" !! ;D

Seriously though ... the phone we were waiting for arrived today ...2 days late ... but then again maybe in the old days it would have taken a few WEEKS for something to have arrived ... maybe it is just our EXPECTANCY today which makes for these frustrations when things don't go exactly according to plan??

Hey Linda !! Bone to pick with you !! ;D I wouldn't have survived to the age I am now? WHAT?? You mean people didn't survive over 25 in those good ole' bad ole' days?? ;D ;D ;D