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I am willing to try new things ... to look like a fool ... a bigtime fool for thinking I'm funny enough to get paid for it ... and it's a freedom like no other!
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When I was young, the TV had rabbit ears, the cool video game was Pong, and we talked on rotary phones. So how's a mother to raise her kids in the Digital Age?

The Truth Hurts: Phonies

February 02, 2010

Ok, here’s the deal. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is interested in your personal phone calls.

It’s like people feel compelled to use their cell phone in public simply because it’s in their pocket! For example, when you get on the plane, you don’t have to call and tell the person that you “just boarded the plane.” Ok! They’ll figure it out on the other end of the trip when they come to pick you up and you're there. If for some reason you’re not going to make it, when you get off the plane you can find a corner and call to readjust you plans.

And when you are by yourself at a restaurant that doesn’t give you the right to call someone and have a conversation. Why punish me just because nobody wants to come and have dinner with you? Have you considered the fact that maybe they don’t show up because you won’t shut up? If you happen to glance my direction you will notice me having a quiet, respectful conversation with my wife or friends who have joined us.

See, the rule is: If I can’t see whom you are talking too…shut up! You have lost conversation privileges. You want to earn it back? Get a friend.

Invading my audio space is as rude as invading my physical space. Would you be comfortable if I walked up to you, 4 inches from your face and just stared? Of course not. You would instantly put your iPhone down and ask me what my problem is.

The answer, of course, is you.

If you can have an obnoxious conversation with someone I can’t see, then I’m going to have a conversation with you in my mind!

By the way, how do you not realize that you’re speaking 10 times the decibel level than you would be with an actual physically present human next to you. If you spoke to a dimensional person like that, people would think you are nuts.

Another thing. Quit forgetting to turn your phone off in a theatre, church, and school assemblies. Come on! If you’re a big enough boy to have modern technology, you should be big enough to remember the off button. Kind of like when your kid “forgets” to do his chores. After a while there is no excuse, and you get sent to your room.

If none of this makes sense to you, you have officially reached the stage of “I’m oblivious,” which is a kind way of saying inconsiderate and/or rude. Do with it as you please, as I no longer believe the nation has a set decorum. Postmodern thought has broken down the last vestige of absolutes even in the area of civility.

But it does give me a chance to vent, on (electronic) paper, which is better than screaming at you, on the phone … in public.

 

Dubbed "God's comic" by The New Yorker magazine, comedian Brad Stine brings his irreverent, edgy, and politically incorrect message to both mainstream and church audiences across the nation. His fifth DVD, "The Best of Brad Stine," features the best material from his previous releases, "Put A Helmet On!," "Conservative Unleashed," "Tolerate This!" and "Wussification". These, along with Brad's latest release, Apostles of Comedy, are available here at the New Christian Voices Clean Comedy Store:

 

 

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Columnist Brad Stine


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