sopchick_01 Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 (edited) Don't feel bad. I suck at texting too and I am 24yrs old! In fact, I hate it so much that I send out messages saying "don't send me messages!" lol! Plus, I don't have unlimited texting. So everything time I send out messages and get messages, I get charged 20 cents each. I know it doesn't sound like much but it adds up quickly. Edited January 16, 2008 by sopchick_01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccerguy315 Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 It's just a different activity today for the members and as an old fart I feel sad about it. Honestly, if I had a cell phone on tour "back in the day" I would have used it too much and it would have totally been a crutch for me. I would have called my boyfriend at home and mom when I had a bad day. The beautiful thing about not having one was that, since I had no other options, I had to find a way to manage without mom or boyfriend back home. Imagine that, I was capable enough as a young adult to get through a tiring practice where I felt like I was being picked on by my instructors without crying on mom's shoulder.The isolation was really beneficial too for unity among members. We felt like we were sharing a foxhole and only had each other to count on. Can you imagine what would have happened if some of the misadventures we old folks talk about was shared with parents while it was happening? We could have sent video home to mom and dad of being stranded on the side of the highway or packing 50% too many people on a bus. All the free day misadventures? No decent food? Instructors screaming? I can just see parents arriving to scoop up kids or calling lawyers and shutting corps down. If you use your cellphone to call and complain to your parents, you don't last very long in drum corps anyway. I have never heard a phone conversation like that while I marched. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but you make it sound like everyone is on their phone complaining after every rehearsal. No one knows what you're going through more than the other people on the field, period. You got through without being able to call home, because you were forced not to. Most members today have that option and still choose not to complain on the phone 24/7 outside of practice... maybe current members are stronger than you were? I'm glad you made the leap that we shouldn't have cellphones because they will lead to corps getting sued. Is that really the point? Do you really think that will happen? Just because you have a phone on tour doesn't mean you're constantly on it. I used my phone like once a week to say 'hi' to my parents and let them know what's going on. Not because I HAD to, but because they actively take an interest in what I do. Also, I use it after shows if I am finding someone to meet. "Why don't I just wander around?" Yea, that is inefficient. My parents can find the buses? What if they are at the show with my grandparents who are in wheelchairs? Now you see kids standing in line for a wall outlet. Nonsense, we share. also for those who may wonder, your parents dont have the right to contact you whenever and wherever they feel like it. what are you 12? they can deal with it for 3 months as well. if they, or you, cant handle that.... well then maybe you should stay home and continue to shelter yourself from the real world, and leave the business of winning world titles to all the kids that can think and act for themselves. what the crap is this? How many business professionals do you know that are tied to their electronic devices? People have Blackberry thumb. BLACKBERRY THUMB. There is a name for the injury that people have for using those #### things too much. Look in the mirror before you criticize the "younger generation" DIRECTED AT EVERYONE: we didn't have them back in X year, so you don't need them now good. This argument is so ########. 100 years ago there weren't cars, and people got along fine. Maybe you should all live 4 months without a car. Back in X year they didn't have the internet so we didn't complain about minute details of every single show. Good. Maybe you should go 5 months without getting on the internet. Everyone did it in 1985, why can't you do it now? Or is it because you aren't strong enough? Only the weak use the internet? Maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkskittles Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I take my cell on tour and do just fine. During the offseason I live at school, roughly 1400 miles away from the rest of my family, so it isnt so i can call mommy cuz i miss her home made cookies or anything. I also take my laptop on tour, not for any reason specifically saying that i NEED to have it nearby, but during the offseason i put all my stuff (clothes, bed, couches, tv) from my apartment in storage, and let someone else finish my yearly lease (if/when i am lucky enough to find someone to do so). I don't want my laptop in storage, where i dont or cant know if it is safe. Some of you might call me crazy for bringing my laptop on tour to keep it safe, but i find that if i keep valuables close at hand i can keep better track of them and their usage. And besides, after ANY given day on tour, once i am off my feet and either on the bus or in my bed, i am OUT like a light! I get tired lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cccmommy Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 (edited) You got through without being able to call home, because you were forced not to. Most members today have that option and still choose not to complain on the phone 24/7 outside of practice... maybe current members are stronger than you were? Quite possible, I am not particularly tough and I was even less tough when I started marching. Good for them being so mature. Just throwing an idea out there that seemed relevant to the topic. I'm glad you made the leap that we shouldn't have cellphones because they will lead to corps getting sued. Is that really the point? Do you really think that will happen? Actually, my point was that corps would have been sued way back in my day. Everything seems much more professional and organized today. I wasn't part of some small town, regional organization either. It just struck me that if parents had proof of all the things that went on during a "typical" drum corps tour of many years ago, the litigation could have gone on for years. Edited January 16, 2008 by cccmommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cccmommy Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 (edited) double post, sorry Edited January 16, 2008 by cccmommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Daddy? Is that you? Depends on what newspaper you were wrapped in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 (edited) I said good bye to my parents when I left on tour and hi when I got back. I never called them when we were on tour, I was too busy and tired. Edited January 16, 2008 by ODBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerGurl21 Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 (edited) (Sorry double posted) Edited January 16, 2008 by DrummerGurl21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerGurl21 Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I couldn't do tour with out my cell phone. Actually I didn't get a cell till my 3rd year of corps. Before that my mom was lucky to hear from me like twice on tour. But I need my cell phone, its my clock and my alarm. I don't call people though. the only reason my mom has heard more from me the last 2 years is cuz now she can call me (doesn't mean I call her back quickly though). plus I like to have it in case our buses/cars get separated or something happens, cuz the parents know I have my cell and they are always asking to borrow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourouttheforty Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I would find that insulting. My own parents don't think I can handle myself in a supervised youth activity without constant contact? Believe me, I wasn't happy. I had every intention of leaving it at home, and the whole point of me going on tour was to get away from them. The only time I talked to them on the phone was when they call at night and my phone happened to be on because I was asking someone for scores. Btw I was 19 and just finished a year of college too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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