FoxTrot Classics by Bill Amend for June 16, 2010

oh snap there isn’t going to be another flight for another 7 years

And airlines wonder why they’re so despised…

wow - obviously an old comic, fortunately now they send sms with change of plans…

Hildi - Do you really think Roger could manage a phone with SMS capability?

hildigunnur and Bill Case: That thought scares me more than I can say…

Okay, so I’m slow on cell phone technology. What IS SMS?

Umm… they do say call 24 hours in advance to confirm departure time, but since the reservation was made the previous day, isn’t that little piece of advice moot? This one is all on the airline.

Rmom, You’re not the only one slow on cell phone technology. I just asked my teenage son, and and he doesn’t know what it means. I think it’s some sort of messaging that is sent to you via the cell phone to tell you if your flight plans have changed. If you have that service. Of course I’m just guessing here, and would also like to know what an SMS is too. This is only of the reasons why I decided to never fly again, at least not while the airlines have gone to the commies.

SMS is “short message service” - sort of like a telegram, but without the little guy in the funny uniform from Western Union…

the hard part is tapping away one to three (or more…) times on each key of that microscopic keypad… even more fun if you’re doing it in a language that’s not your native tongue…

In short, SMS means texting (though you can also text with other protocols).

I don’t even own a cell phone…and I’m a software engineer for a company that makes cell phones…it was an interesting job interview.

This actually happened to me.They said the flight was delayed at least four hours, I went home and thirty minutes later they decided to take off.

Thanks for the answers! My hubby & one of our sons are geeks, but we’re not into texting. In fact, I got texting blocked on our phones, because it got irritating to have to pay for the wrong numbers we were receiving.

She said “was”. Roger heard “has been”. Big difference.

Rmom, we did the same thing. We also had data blocked. I could not determine what I was looking at on a 1.5” X 2” screen.

Magasek - I’ve got to admire you - I’ve often regretted having the electronic ball and chain… some people I know refuse to have them because they’re an annoying intrusion on their lives. I got mine because I was working in the sticks and wanted some way to get help in a emergency.

The cell phone is often useful, but I think people over-use it. It’s doubtful that cellphone radiation is dangerous, but nobody thought x-rays were harmful back in the days when it was common for shoe stores to use them to check the fit of children’s shoes…

musicnut1986 - the way the clerk said it (“was”) works either way - the re-scheduling was in the past. That doesn’t imply anything about the time the flight was re-scheduled to.

I find it funny that people who don’t have texting, or don’t have phones are so snobbish about it. (No offense meant, it’s just the best description I could think of).

I can’t do without my phone and texting. But I don’t have my phone attached to my hands 24/7. If I don’t want to be bothered at a certain time, I either don’t answer if it’s unimportant, or tell the person that I’m busy and will answer better later. Everyone I know respects that rule. It isn’t hard to enforce.

zev.farkas – I got a cell phone because I was working in the city in child protection. I know how to text, but find it a pain and I still feel uncomfortable about whether there is excessive radiation or not (having been thru cancer treatments, you never want to see another rad).

wow, do you have to pay for the text messages you RECEIVE? That’s stupid ($%&/”%# phone companies!)

lectrice, same here. Wouldn’t be without it, it’s incredibly handy but easy to turn off or to silent if you don’t want to be bothered.

yeah and with all the ash delays here, I’m pretty sure the airline employees were really, really glad that everyone here has a cell phone and I’ve never heard of anyone that blocks the texting in their phone before reading this thread. Even my parents, at 73 and 74 years old manage to send and receive sms :D