Cellphones: blessing or curse?

Most of us have one. Most of our kids either have or want to have one. Even most of our parents have one. What am I talking about? Yep, cellphones (as you may have guessed from the title of this blog). Cellphones are great. I don't know how we ever lived without them. Our parents must have had a lot of angst about where we were, who we were with, why we were not home when we were supposed to be... Imagine not being able to call your kid and say, "Hey, you were supposed to be home an hour ago, where are you?" Okay, okay, so maybe they will choose not to answer, but at least you can try. Of course that might be cause for alarm in itself. At least when they don't have a cell phone you know they won't answer, but when they do have one and they don't answer...then you really start to worry! Maybe they're not answering because they are lying in a ditch somewhere, or ...

But that really is not the point of this post. Today I'm on a rant about people who think the whole world wants to be included in their cell phone conversations. I mean, really, when I am at a nice restaurant on a date, do I want to hear Joe Schmoe's conversation with his colleague or his ex-wife? Although the latter might prove to be interesting, lol. Restaurants should ban cell phone use. Or maybe we need to lobby for a "cell phone section", you know, like the "smoking section". I'm just saying. It is totally unacceptable to ruin anyone's dinner date with you loud cell phone conversations.

And then there's the doctor's office waiting room. Yes, I get that you had to take time out of your busy day to visit the doctor's office. Yes, i know you have a lot to do, but geez, most of the the people in the waiting room are ill! They do not want to be privy to your phone conversation any more than those who are on a date at a nice restaurant. And the cellphone games...ugh! I was in a doctor's waiting room not too long ago, and a grown woman (and I am talking, in her 30's at least) was playing a game on her cell phone, and she was not quiet about it. I have to wonder if she was all there. What ever happened to etiquette, manners, common courtesy?

So yeah, cell phones are great . Until you have been forced to listen to one too many conversations that don't include you. What to do? I wonder how these evil cell phone addicts would react if we inserted ourselves into their conversations. "Oh no, you should never go that way..." . "Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear (since you were being so l-o-u-d), I can tell you from experience, ..." Worth a try? Maybe...

Who is Teaching Our Children?

I have eight kids. Now imagine, if you will, putting eight kids through school, helping with homework, reading notes that come home from school, trying to explain why the teacher marked it wrong when you don't even see the reasoning. Then imagine that you find, in these letters from the school or teacher, spelling and grammar errors so basic it makes you wonder if the notes were actually written by a teacher. Not only that,with all the social networks and blogs, and what not, the carelessness of some of these teachers has really come to light, if indeed it is carelessness, and not just plain ignorance. No, it must be carelessness because there is such a thing as spell check and one would think that as an educator you would want to come across as intelligent even on Facebook. It is disconcerting when you see post after post from an elementary school teacher (who has taught your child) with atrocious spelling mistakes. I mean, come on, people! If you don't know how to spell it look it up. Use spell check if you know you are not a great speller. You never know who is watching. Your student's parents may lose confidence in you.

Some will argue, "They are just typos." Yeah, right. When the letter you type and the letter that is supposed to be there are on opposite ends of the keyboard? A typo? I think not. Proofread. Proofread everything. Notes home, blog posts, social network posts, emails, everything. This is your chosen profession.

My apologies if I have offended any teachers. That certainly is not my intention, just, please, before you send a note home with my child, or post something on Facebook, check your spelling and grammar...my child is learning from you!