No PDA for Ma and Pa at theme park
Alton Towers bans working widgets
Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 12:58
PARENTS WHO ARE determined to stay in touch with the office, despite being on a weekend break with their brats, will be asked to cease and desist this half term.
The experiment, which runs from now until June 2nd, will request that parents leave their mobile office devices at one of five 'PDA Drop-off Points' in order to let them "reconnect with their families" according to the resort's divisional director, Russell Barnes.
"We feel it's so important for parents and kids to focus on nothing more than having the best possible time, we are prepared to take drastic action to ensure that parents really leave their work behind," he pretended.
If there are no major riots, the scheme is expected to be introduced throughout the year. ยต
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Wonder if they can convince gang thugs to leave their knives at "knife drop off points" too, as recently I had to inform Alton towers security staff of a miscreant wielding a flick knife outside the toilets. Did they escort him off the premises? oh yes, just as far as the car park with his chavvy mates, where all the families go when the leave the park for the day!
Nothing like doing a job to the best of your ability eh, security?
Time for the EU and UN to define some right in that regard, you can't pretend it's 1950 forever, people WILL have gadgets and people do NOT want to give them off unless there's a damn good compelling reason, and though, thank to a lot of effort by the government (and their lackeys laughingly known as 'the media'), in making people compliant the people have indeed grown pretty meek I don't think this attempt by organisations in more and more situations to strip you of electronics will be accepted in the long run.
Besides, the powers that be use the self-same electronics to keep track of people 24/7 and you can't have it all, you either let them have their gear or you can't track them.
Sorry, but when I go to an amusement park with my family, we frequently split up due to interest in different rides, or height limitations. Our phones are the only way we can manage to find each other throughout the day. They're going to expect me to give up either the ability to find my family, or the ability to enjoy the facilities to the fullest? Ridiculous.
Perhaps an insight from the older contingent may be useful here. Back in the distant days before Blackberries, et al., when you went most places outside you were unreachable (Unless YOU chose to call in via a pay phone.)

Horrors!

But since most of us were, and are, employees, any calls that might reach us from work were and are not likely to be made to tell us we've just been granted more executive perks. No. They were likely to inform us of something we had to worry about, or even to summon us to drop everything and return to the office. For that reason, we cherished being out of touch.

And bosses, having no way to reach us, didn't try to do so, and didn't reproach us for having been unreachable.

Unless you like to work, or be on the verge of working, 24 hours a day, after you give it some thought you will probably agree that that was a way of living worth preserving!