# Call me old-fashioned, but . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673 "2012-02-03T19:05:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/21 "2012-02-04T21:15:14Z")
Music is something that involves actual people playing actual musical instruments. You CALL someone for a date. You can even do it in person. Texting and email are not appropriate mediums for starting, or ending, a relationship. My lawn. Get off it! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/22 "2012-02-04T21:46:55Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Call me old fashioned, but I believe that when you are out to dinner with friends or family, you should not be on your cell phone at the table. . . . Total agreement (including the exceptions you noted.) Cell phones have introduced a whole new dimension in rudeness to our everyday lives! The Post Office, where I go pretty much daily, has a rule: the clerks will not provide service to anyone who is conversing on a phone! I say yay! > [@NoiseBomb](#): > > I use a pen and scrap paper for the odd note, to-do list or reminder. It’s so much easier than any sort of sticky note program on the computer or note thingie on the cell phone. OOh, there’s a sticky note program for the 'puter? I wants! But, yes, I agree: I keep a pen and a stack of 3x5 cards in every room, and jot down notes all the time. > [@DCnDC](#): > > Music is something that involves actual people playing actual musical instruments. > > You CALL someone for a date. You can even do it in person. Texting and email are not appropriate mediums for starting, or ending, a relationship. > > My lawn. Get off it! Grin! Totally agree re the lawn! Totally agree re calling for dates. Hm… I kinda like some electronic music… I’ve got a beautiful “music processor” program for my ‘puter, and it lets me compose tunes and ditties. When it plays, it sounds – um – well, fair-to-middlin’ good. Wendy Carlos’ pioneering efforts were pretty awesome. Didja ever hear the music to the old Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade? But, yeah, I’d rather a band’s drummer were an actual guy banging sticks on a drum than a “drum machine.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/23 "2012-02-04T21:50:57Z")
I still drive a manual transmission vehicle (and I’m an American). ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/24 "2012-02-04T22:10:42Z")
Cell phone? What’s that? I don’t even own a cell phone. When I want to make a call, I pick up a landline and dial out. And up until 5 years ago, _ **I still had a rotary phone.** _ Old fashioned hardcore-style. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/25 "2012-02-04T22:40:18Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > What you want to do is make sure you use your bank’s online Bill Pay system, not the utility’s bill pay system. From the bank’s system you can send money to anyone and it only gets sent when you say so. > > If you put in your Uncle Harry’s name and address they’ll put a paper check in the mail to him. > > With the utility’s bill pay system you create an online account with them and give them permission to take whatever money they want whenever they want and if they take the wrong amount you have to fight to get it back. > > The latter approach is not advisable. You don’t have to pay any online bills automatically. That’s just an option. I only do it for my car insurance because I get a discount. But every other bill I have, I log onto their website once a month and make a one-time payment with my checking account. Simple, secure, and no need for paper checks. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/26 "2012-02-04T23:04:59Z")
I’m so old fashioned that I think thread titles should be descriptive! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/27 "2012-02-04T23:09:14Z")
I am still using a CRT monitor (19" from 2002), just because it still works and I don’t feel the need to upgrade it. Not that the computer I am using is as old, but I only replaced it when it died a couple years ago (the old one was from 2004). Even my new computer (self-built) has only a 200 GB hard drive - since I don’t need all that space (personal files, almost entirely self-created, are less than 600 MB, which tells you right there that I don’t keep music or videos). ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/28 "2012-02-04T23:33:59Z")
Hey, **Idle Thoughts** , I was beginning to think I was the only one left on Earth! I have _ **never** _ owned a cell phone. I have nothing against them, I simply have not had the need for one yet. Frankly, I often don’t answer the phone at home-- so why would I want one following me everywhere? Also, while I enjoy many types of music, my favorites are still old blues and 60’s rock’n’roll. And I like my fish cooked. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/29 "2012-02-05T00:01:46Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > And up until 5 years ago, _ **I still had a rotary phone.** _ > > Old fashioned hardcore-style. We still have a rotary phone from the 1960s. It’s one of my most cherished possessions. I love hearing it ring. I want to get more so I can replace the worthless cordless phones that don’t work when the power goes out. I keep a journal in longhand in a spiral notebook, and I still write all my recipes on 4 x 6 cards and put them in my recipe box. I correct people who call my elderly mother by her first name when they don’t have a personal relationship with her. I refer to all elders as Mr. or Ms./Mrs. Soandso unless specifically instructed to do otherwise, and I’ll continue to do so until there are no people older than me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/30 "2012-02-05T00:14:33Z")
[QUOTE=Jasper Kent;14740473 . . . I have _ **never** _ owned a cell phone. I have nothing against them, I simply have not had the need for one yet. . . . [/QUOTE] I felt the same way, until I was compelled to get one for work purposes. My boss insisted on being able to contact me, anywhere, any time, in emergencies… The funny part was, I hadn’t had it for a month when my car stalled on the freeway in a heavy rain… Being able to call for a tow truck without having to walk a wet half a mile was wonderful! I hope you never do need one! But if you ever do…man…they’re nice to have! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/31 "2012-02-05T00:19:02Z")
That’s why I have one, **Trinopus** - for MY convenience. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/32 "2012-02-05T00:39:50Z")
I still pay for my morning coffee at the 7-Eleven with cash. Everyone else seems to be using debit cards, but I prefer yanking actual money out of my wallet. That way when I’m getting low, I can SEE that I’m getting low! Also: I buy and rip CDs, drive a stick, and have never read an e-book. I prefer used paperbacks from the local used bookstore. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/33 "2012-02-05T01:29:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A cashier at Best Buy tried to sell me an extended warranty on a DVD today. I hope this was just her own idea and not a new general policy. It seems to be a general policy (I think for DVDs and Blu-Rays over a specific price, as well as video games) as it’s offered after a prompt appears on the register, and I’ve had it happen at different chains, too. I _assume_ that it’s like those damage insurance tack-ons that video rental stores offer(ed). If that’s the case, could be useful if you’re buying media for small children or for use in an in-car video system, where it’s likely something is going to damage the disc, such as an errant toddler or warping from an overheated vehicle. I’ve never asked follow-up questions about it, though, since I have neither kids nor a desire to watch movies in my car. I’m still a bit old-fashioned about a few things already covered in this thread, especially the CD thing. I was recently in the mood to pick up the back catalog of a few favorite bands. $10 an album on iTunes, or… go to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), buy all of them for $0.01 to $0.99 + $2.99 s/h, and wait for a couple of days. I am willing to go iTunes-only, though, for new releases now that physical media sales have dipped to the point that I can no longer regularly find sub-$10 sales. OVerall, though, I do prefer _using_ intangible forms, and now simply rip a CD and put it into storage. I prefer _using_ actual Blu-Ray or DVD over streaming or downloading video content, and probably will for a long time to come. I look forward to the day that it becomes possible to rip video media as quickly as one can rip audio, though… I’d love to transfer everything to a hard drive or two and put all of my discs in storage. For my home, I far prefer landlines over cell phones (and I cannot get it through my friends’ heads that they should call the landline if they want me to actually _answer_). And for my landline, I far prefer corded phones over cordless, and prefer the older, heavy, Western Electric models over newer, lighter ones. I like dating. Few of my friends date, and a few (all men, notably) think the idea is passe. The last couple of women I’ve dated remarked that they’d never had a date before, despite having been in relationships before; they just kind of would fall into a relationship with someone in their circle of acquaintances because they would simultaneously be single. It was fun being the guy who gave them the date experience for the first time–the last woman was so wide-eyed about _getting to dress up!_ and _being taken somewhere new to eat!_ and _having conversation!_ and _doing something after dinner besides a movie or Xbox!_–but disconcerting at the same time. She was serious, too; our first date, a few hours in, she actually said “no one has ever had a conversation with me before… I mean, we talked, but no one ever asked me things or listened…” I’m also old-fashioned about some things which would have been new-fashioned just a few years ago. As an example… I like texting for short messages, but prefer actual e-mail to an actual e-mail account for longer and single-sided communications. Most of my friends prefer keeping it to texting or current Facebook messaging. (Facebook messaging _was_ a pretty decent alternative until they combined the message and chat functions into a function that pretty much mimics texting to leverage their push into the mobile messaging field. Now, instead of being able to send an actual letter with paragraph breaks, each line break will send a separate message to the recipient’s mobile device, and shows up as part of a “real time” chat window on computers.) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/34 "2012-02-05T02:15:43Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I still pay for my morning coffee at the 7-Eleven with cash. Everyone else seems to be using debit cards, but I prefer yanking actual money out of my wallet. That way when I’m getting low, I can SEE that I’m getting low! > > Also: I buy and rip CDs, drive a stick, and have never read an e-book. I prefer used paperbacks from the local used bookstore. Heh! Cash, me too. I have a debit card…and yet I’ve never used it. I don’t know how to rip a CD… I drive a stick… But, man, I loves me my Kindle! E-readers are the bees’ knees! Cat’s pajamas, man! I am so hep! Gollywompers! ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/35 "2012-02-05T03:00:04Z")
My old holiday cottage is my “call me old fashioned” - place. No mobile coverage, no landline, no internet, no tv, collect the drinking water from a spring, chop wood for the fire. And then back home to the real world, where I don’t even own pen and paper. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/36 "2012-02-05T03:33:11Z")
My cell phone does nothing but send or receive phone calls. And the only time I ever use it is to call the electric company when the power’s out . . . oh, and calling roadside assistance when I locked my keys in the car. I don’t think I’ve ever received a call on it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/37 "2012-02-05T03:38:48Z")
I love actual books. The physical thing, with real pages and whatnot. I’ve never tried a Kindle or other reading device, so maybe I would like that – it took us years to switch from videotapes to DVDs, but there was no going back after that – but there’s just something about a book that attracts me. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/38 "2012-02-05T04:52:06Z")
I don’t use ATMs. My nickname for them is mugger convenience stations. I cash a check at the bank for enough money to last me between time periods until the bank is open again. I have emergency money in a home safe. So far I have never had a problem and see no reason to change this state of affairs. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/39 "2012-02-05T05:21:42Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I don’t call people by their given names unless they invite me to. I came in here to post this. Further, I’m old-fashioned enough to find someone rude if they call me by my first name without this step. I’m in the wrong here, I know. They are actually trying to be polite by not being “stiff and formal”. The culture has changed, and I need to change with it. Still, I always have to stifle my reaction and I’m not always successful. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673/40 "2012-02-05T05:37:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I love actual books. The physical thing, with real pages and whatnot. I’ve never tried a Kindle or other reading device, so maybe I would like that – it took us years to switch from videotapes to DVDs, but there was no going back after that – but there’s just something about a book that attracts me. I like actual books, too. I like the feel of them, and the smell of them (my cat likes them, too - she loves to smell them and rub on them). I like the way a well-used book looks - not pristine, but lived-in. It shows that it has fulfilled its purpose for existing - it’s been read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-old-fashioned-but/611673.md?page=3)