I Wish ... Was Never Invented

[Deuce]

Motorcycles and jet skis.

Boo!

 

[KarenF]

BUT ulcers - no matter the cause can often be successfully treated with the stand by of H2 antagonists and proton pump inhibitors. No more cutting on stomachs for the most part.

I think my example stands but YMMV.

PPIs have many side effects (like destroying bone density) and are greatly overused. Not a great example of progress.

 

[Murph]

Smart phones. I think people started ignoring each other when these came out, and without those there wouldn’t be so many decisive social media apps.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

Kind of the opposite of what's the greatest invention, this thread is more a wish something never was invented. Do you have an invention in mind that you wish never was?

Easy. The cellular telephone. Here's an article from almost 22 years ago. Other than the reference to pagers, not much has changed since 2001. I'd say it's gotten worse.

What killed etiquette? Cell phones
Aug 6, 2001

They buzz and beep and chime at the most inopportune times. Like during a lecture. Or a Pap smear.


A Medical Economics Web Exclusive
What killed etiquette? Cell phones

They buzz and beep and chime at the most inopportune times. Like during a lecture. Or a Pap smear.
By John R. Egerton, MD
Family Practitioner/Friendswood, TX

The new patient complained of pain in one of his testicles. Because he was hurting, I took care to be gentle as I grasped the offending organ.

There was an immediate electronic buzzing sound as soon as I touched him. I leapt back, surprised at this apparent genital warning system, until I realized that the sound was coming from the patient’s cell phone. He apologized and switched off the phone.

Cell phones are so ubiquitous that they’ve become a nuisance in our office. Loud conversations with spouses, friends, business colleagues, or babysitters commonly disrupt the normally quiet surroundings. We prominently display notices asking that phones not be used in the exam rooms.

As far as patients are concerned, this may be because a cell phone could interfere with vital machinery and jeopardize someone’s health. Still, the signs make little difference; the chimes still ring, the voices still yell.

At least the man with the testicular pain acknowledged the notices; he had merely forgotten to turn off his phone.

That wasn’t the case with Don Tellme, a businessman who was in for his annual physical. I had just laid my stethoscope on his chest.

"Take a deep breath," I said.

And a melodic chime sounded. It came from the phone he was clutching in his hand. Without a sign of embarrassment he answered it.

"I’m at the doctor’s right now," he said.

I was amazed that he had actually answered the thing while I was examining him, instead of letting his voice mail take care of the call. Still, I expected him to tell the caller that he’d talk to him later. Instead, he seemed all set for a business conference right there on the exam table.

"Well, we need to hurry them up on that order," he said. "And did you get together with Joe?"

I listened for about 30 seconds before leaving him to it. I had other patients with different priorities as to how they wanted to spend their time in the doctor’s office. Even when I returned a while later, he was unrepentant.

Minnie Player was in for her Pap smear. The exam was in its early stages when the sound of classical music filled the room. The music came from her purse, which she had left on a chair in a corner of the room. The tune continued for about 15 seconds. I was relieved when it abruptly ceased.

After a slight pause, a different classical melody issued forth from her handbag. Minnie was in no position to retrieve the phone, so the music played on. But whoever was trying to get her attention was persistent; every 15 seconds or so, the phone played another tune.

The exam continued: breasts by Beethoven; Pap by Puccini; and, the grand finale, vaginal by Wagner.

"That’s my husband," giggled Minnie. "He knows where I am. He’s playing a joke."

Very funny.

Only a few short years ago, cell phones didn’t exist; now they’ve become one of life’s necessities. We feel insecure if the phone isn’t within easy reach. Undoubtedly, the mobile phones and the pagers that accompany them are enormously useful. But are we overdoing it?

At a recent lecture I attended, muffled beeps and other more innovative tones continuously emanated from purses and pockets. I was conscious of scrabbling hands reaching for hidden electronic messengers, to silence and then to read them. Occasionally, an unshielded pager would blare.

There was a constant to-and-fro as people left the room to answer their page, usually with a tiny cell phone already held to the ear. How often does a message require that kind of immediate attention? The whole atmosphere was quite distracting.

Another time, a doctor at our dinner table answered his bleating phone.

"How long has he had diarrhea?" he said after listening for a few seconds.

There followed several questions regarding the various physical characteristics of the patient’s excrement. The caller’s replies were repeated loudly, as if for the benefit of the rest of the table. Why do people shout when talking on the phone? And wouldn’t it be more polite to leave the table and let the rest of us dine in peace?

At another dinner meeting, a doctor’s pager went off in the middle of the event’s lecture. She checked the number on it, and promptly pulled out her cell phone and dialed the patient back. It didn’t seem to occur to her that nobody would have minded if she’d left the table to conduct her business in private. No, she talked, unabashed that her conversation was competing with the talk we were there to hear.

There seems to be some sort of snob value to this use of the cell phone, just like there was with the pager a few years ago. It was a sign of prestige to be important enough to have an electronic instrument summon you to an "emergency."

Now everyone carries a pager. So, today, one’s importance will have to be reflected by the continual and uninterrupted use of the cell phone.

Pagers can vibrate rather that bleat, which is a great improvement. And so can some cell phones. So the instruments themselves are not entirely to blame. Like so many other things, it is the human behind the machine that does the harm.

It’s just a question of good manners.





John Egerton. What killed etiquette? Cell phones.

Medical Economics

2001;15.

 

[GoodbyeYellow]

Cookies, and not the type that come out of ovens.

And yes, cellphones in public, though otherwise they are awesome.

And [-]loud[/-] audible music in public, especially in natural places like beaches or forests.

 

[Beststash]

Smart phones. I think people started ignoring each other when these came out, and without those there wouldn’t be so many decisive social media apps.

If you think it is bad now - wait until the VR technology allows people to live in their own reality. Zombieville here we come.

 

[Buckeye]

Facebook, hands down.

I recommend the book Mind F*ck (yes, that's really the title) to understand how it is used to manipulate in very nefarious ways...by a guy who developed some of the most egregious algorithms/techniques used around the world, including the United States.

 

[Koolau]

I was going to flippantly say Twinkies but, as useless as they are at being food, I don't feel strongly about them. They are perhaps the best example I can think of, of a foodstuff that isn't actually food. A few years ago, I realized that I had been in the US for something like 30 years, and had yet to taste a Twinkie. So I did, and the absurdity of it was almost entertaining. Why would anyone eat something that not only is not food, but is not even pleasurable to eat? I decided then and there it would be both the first and last Twinkie I would ever eat.

There are several things I really wish hadn't been invented. My feelings are quite strong on them though, and I'm having too good a day today to be a Debbie Downer, so I chose to write about Twinkies instead In the meantime, when I want to snack on something, I reach for the big jar of kimchi in the fridge. My local Asian market has their own kimchi, which has spring onions that add a wonderfully dark spicy flavor. I have trouble controlling myself when there is a jar of this stuff in the fridge. Twinkies pale by comparison!

I don't know. Twinkies seem to loom large in a number of classic movies though YMMV.

https://theweek.com/articles/470296/5-movies-where-twinkies-played-supporting-role

 

[Time2]

I don't wish roundabouts were never invented but I do wish drivers wouldn't treat the yield signs like stop signs

I have a property near where they are widening a road and putting in a roundabout, In a conversation with the states engineering dept that is in charge of the project, I suggested they do an IQ test of the population in the area before they install a roundabout! We have two roundabouts in the area that I know of, and people don't seem to do well with them, and they are both simple roundabouts.
Then there is the peanut roundabout!

 

[Montecfo]

Personally I love roundabouts. They work great. We have quite a few nearby. They keep traffic moving.

Only issue is people who misunderstand and stop or who blow through them.

But worse is people who blow through stop signs in residential areas. Amazingly common. I was almost run over by one looking at her phone.

Since then I assume every driver is insane and can't be trusted to stop. Working so far.

 

[WWDog]

cellphones


Have you ever been anywhere, perhaps out to dinner, and everyone is glued to their cellphones? Face to face interaction between people is sadly a thing of the past. Not to mention all the really bad things that occur due the social media in this world. I have never owned nor will own one of those things.

 

[Koolau]

cellphones


Have you ever been anywhere, perhaps out to dinner, and everyone is glued to their cellphones? Face to face interaction between people is sadly a thing of the past. Not to mention all the really bad things that occur due the social media in this world. I have never owned nor will own one of those things.

I like having a cellphone just in case and to keep in touch with DW when we get separated. Otherwise, I could drop kick it with no regrets.

 

[DayDreaming]

My neighbor just bought the loudest gas powered leaf blower I have ever heard. It is so loud I have to go to the basement to escape the noise. I don't understand why anyone buying a new leaf blower would buy gas when battery powered like EGO has become such high quality.

Maybe someone who has a 1.5 acre yard with 37 trees that are 80 to 100 ft high and have 18 to 30 inch trunks and produce 20 dump truck loads of leaves every fall?

I have a 5 acre yard, hundreds of trees, and I've never owned a leaf blower.
I'm another one wishing leaf blowers were never invented.

 

[Montecfo]

One does wonder why leaf blowers are singled out. What, lawnmowers are fine? What about chain saws? String trimmers?

I kind of wish loud outdoor sounds early in the morning had never been invented.

I also wish loud outdoor sounds when I am not making them had never been invented.

Don't get me started on vacuum cleaners.

 

[MichealKnight]

Loss of humanity

1.)Smartphones.

2.)Texting

3.)Social Media

I love YouTube - but if someone went back in time and destroyed the internet, well, dinner is on me for that person.

"Sarah Connor" -- not a villain in my book. Quite the opposite.

 

[scrabbler1]

The use of cell phones on trains, particularly the LIRR, worsened an already crummy commute for the last ~10 years of my career (1998-2008). The train rides went from lousy but generally fairly quiet and peaceful to lousy and more annoying thanks to the frequent loud yapping by my fellow train riders. And it would take only one rude rider to ruin the ride of dozens of other riders within earshot.

I remember someone having a website dedicated to all the rude actions of LIRR riders, mostly cell phone users. The best one I remember is someone, after repeatedly asking a young woman to speak softly or end her call, then taking a picture of her with his own cell phone. When she objected, he said, "I just want a picture of the RUDEST LIRR rider EVER!" She ended her call right away and didn't say a word the rest of the ride.

Then there was the woman whose cell phone rang during a live play with a small audience surrounding the stage on 3 sides. But she didn't know how to turn her phone off to stop the ringing. It got so bad that someone else in the audience yelled to her, "Will you shut that thing off?" The actors had to stop the play as the woman left the seating area. Then, the lead actress apologized, to applause from everyone else, and restarted the play at the start of the scene.

 

[CaptTom]

...But worse is people who blow through stop signs in residential areas. Amazingly common. I was almost run over by one looking at her phone...

I'm going to respectfully disagree here. To me, it's the stop sign which should never have been invented.

Think about it. What does a stop sign really mean? First, it should alert the driver to the danger of oncoming traffic or pedestrians. It's an indicator that you need to check before pulling out.

Legally, it tells you that you must give way (aka "yield") to oncoming traffic. More cynically, it's really only there to establish who's at fault if you don't do so.

Which is exactly what a yield sign does, only without the silly idea of having to come to a complete stop if no-one is coming the other way. Which, by the way, also wastes fuel and harms the environment.

It just doesn't make sense to come to a full stop where there are good sight lines in both directions. People know this, and most don't really stop. When a majority of people routinely break the law, maybe it's the law that's wrong.

I understand that some people are idiots and ignore both signs. I blame that on poor enforcement. It's so easy to sit off the side of the road and shoot radar that speeding is the almost the only infraction that they write tickets for. Maybe if they had a quota for other violations things would change.

...Since then I assume every driver is insane and can't be trusted to stop. Working so far.

A very wise approach. I wish everyone on the roads paid this kind of attention to their driving.

 

[Winemaker]

Years ago, I went to visit a friend in a smallish town. Across the street was a small mom&pop grocery store. My friend occasionally shopped at the little store because it was a lot closer than the city's super market.

My friend let me know that the owner had shared with him that he bought his canned goods from the super market - then jacked up the price. It turned out that delivery from the same supplier that supplied the supermarket charged him MORE than the supermarket sold their stuff. Volume, baby, volume.

When we last visited Maui in 2017, the Costco parking lot was full of vehicles with mom and pop grocery store logos. I had assume it was cheaper to buy at Costco rather than their distributor.

 

[COcheesehead]

When we last visited Maui in 2017, the Costco parking lot was full of vehicles with mom and pop grocery store logos. I had assume it was cheaper to buy at Costco rather than their distributor.

Yep, we meet many of our local small business owners at Sam’s.

 

[Gumby]

Back in my prosecutorial days, I once had to go after the owner of a small bodega in a nearby city. He would buy SNAP cards for 50 cents on the dollar, then take a bunch of them to the auto checkout at Costco and buy the inventory for his store, which he would then sell at exorbitant prices, largely to the same people who sold him their SNAP cards in the first place. That's how you really improve your margins.

 

[Aerides]

To me, it's the stop sign which should never have been invented.

Gonna go out on a limb here and figure the stop sign was invented long before the stop light - so it had a pretty good run there? Sure, there are some locations where it may not be needed, but not a cause for widespread dismissal.

And I don't think the word "invention" applies to something like a traffic sign.

 

[aaronc879]

I don't understand why people seem to have such a bad time with Facebook. Since joining many years ago, I've had a much easier time communicating with distant relatives and friends, plus I've found kindred spirits who enjoy the same niche hobbies I do.

My only complaint with Facebook is that the ads have gotten out of control the last couple years. I liked it much better when there were no ads or far fewer ads. I understand that Facebook is now a public company and therefore has to make a profit for shareholders but it definitely hurt the product.

 

[aaronc879]

Motorcycles and jet skis.

Motorcycles are nothing but horrible noise pollution. If they were made much quieter and if modifications resulted in impoundment then motorcycles would be fine by me.

 

[Koolau]

My only complaint with Facebook is that the ads have gotten out of control the last couple years. I liked it much better when there were no ads or far fewer ads. I understand that Facebook is now a public company and therefore has to make a profit for shareholders but it definitely hurt the product.

Ads have taken a lot of the fun out of a lot of things - especially YouTube. And no, I don't want a membership or whatever you pay for to get rid of ads.

 

[Taco]

One does wonder why leaf blowers are singled out. What, lawnmowers are fine? What about chain saws? String trimmers?

I do get that a loud gas-powered blower ineffectively blowing a bunch of leaves around a yard for hours on end is annoying.

But for blowing fine debris off of hard surfaces, a blower excels.

My battery powered leaf blower (er, my power broom) is quieter than my little self propelled walk behind lawn mower. And I mow for an hour vs only a few minutes of blowing after mowing. It is a great tool for quick clean up.