So is living in a bubble a way of life? I don't mean since Trump got into office. I'm saying 10 years ago till now.

I notice it. Maybe it was always like this a bit, but I'm definitely noticing more frequent incidents of assholery. It's not mostly "millennials" either.

It's the headphones life. They wear them to work, at work, at lunchtime, on the way home, at home.

I sure hope they find a way to restore hearing loss because these Millennials will be all partially deaf by their mid-40s.

I've seen it a lot recently. I was at Universal Studios and was walking over to this spot that overlooks the city...really nice views and a very long railing where a lot of people could gather. Anyway, there was a spot that I was about 2 feet from when out of nowhere this lady just walks and plants herself right there. It was like I was invisible or something. I actually turned to my sister and said, "Am I invisible? Can you see me?" It wasn't just that once, either. I noticed it throughout the day. People were either walking into me because they were looking at their phones or would simply push in front of me. It was very strange but it's happening a lot lately. I even got rear ended recently when I stopped because a car in front of me stopped to let someone out of a driveway and the guy behind me just slammed into me. Mind you, the light had just turned green so everyone was just starting to move and BAM he hit me hard. I know he was looking at his phone because there is no other explanation as to why you would do that.

We live in the era of smartphones. Everybody is constantly plugged in and doing their own thing while they are going about their day. Just the reality.

You don't know what a bubble is until you try to ride the subway in Tokyo.

Yep, the iphone came out just over 10 years ago, in 2006, and since then people have been glued to their phones and have consequently become more self-absorbed and less considerate of others. It sucks.

r5 damn. this is actually very true.

r5, are they rude?

Technology is certainly to blame. But I have also noticed a general lack of civility. Real boorishness among strangers. And it is in the workplace as well.

It's been going on for nearly 20 years now but it's spread from a small group to the society at large. It used to mostly be among wealthier types - the kind who you see on Bravo "housewives" shows. In the early 2000's they would think they could just walk to the front of a line or take up a whole aisle in a store so that you could not walk around them. It's basically a sense of entitlement. It's just that a majority of people have that sense of entitlement now even if they have no wealth. It has less to do with cell phones as a distraction and more to do with everyone feeling they are somehow important and famous because they have a facebook page or an instagram account on that phone. I see people who think they are somehow more "special" because they don't stand in line at Starbucks now that they can order ahead on their app.

yes R9. People are remarkably self absorbed and not shy about displaying it. I noticed it when I moved in 2003 and it has only gotten worse.

well?

Ten years ago, there was this 30-something guy who took my commuter train in the morning. Probably a financial type. He always had ear buds in. In the winter, he'd wear a hoodie tightened around his face. He was all bundled up like a baby and completely physically isolated from the world around him. I have no idea why people live in this million dollar neighborhood, and then lock themselves out of it.

............

"I van't to be alone"

oh, dear.

I find myself saying out loud, "Get off your fucking phone" more and more. Most of the time they don't hear me, especially if there are headphones involved (for the ultimate in passive/aggressive behavior as Sandra Bernhard once said). But sometimes they do and one ratchet chick followed me into the parking lot, ranting the whole time.

It really is insane to see people walking into traffic with their heads down in their phones though. Atlanta is the jaywalking capital of the world and they are downright arrogant about it too.

I went to a very nice Japanese place on Sawtelle(LA) a couple of years ago and sat down and gave my order. When the waitress brought me water, I was looking in my bag and said “ wonder where my phone went” and put my bag on a another chair. The poor waitress said “ why aren’t you running out of here? I’ve never seen anyone so cool about a lost phone”. She was Japanese, very sweet and told me how she’s seen customers flee if their phone was not with them and go into a total panic. Even if they’ve ordered food. We talked about how that was a horrible way to live. She was much younger than me.

I had a lovely lunch and found my phone in a day or too.

I was just talking about this with a friend. I think so. There is nothing more against trump than distaste.

As a lifelong pedestrian I face this everyday. Apparently reception for phones is best in the middle of the sidewalk, if you walk to your right the signal fades or something. and people walking together in a kick line refuse to break for a crowded sidewalk, so I have taken to stopping in my tracks when approached like that, it works every time, so far.

me too, r20.

I've definitely noticed this. I encounter them almost every day. A couple of weeks ago I was driving dawn a residential street when someone decided to make a U-turn right in front of me. There was no one behind me. All they had to do was wait 5 seconds for me to drive past and they would have had the entire road all to themselves.

Devo was right.

.........

I live in a bubble, but I’m a separatist. It’s the best way to live.

you can't spell iPhone without "I" - think about it. iPhone introduced in mid 2007. Pretty much started the end of everything.

It's the pod people. There are only 7% real people left on the planet

bubble people are the worst.

Bubbles are comfy and safe!

It sure is, OP. I only did it in a movie, but some live there all their life.

This is all represented in the social media explosion.

A demonstration of our narcissism

All DLers see life through cunt-coloured glasses. All cunts. All the time.

Apple heard you. The newer phones don't have headphone jacks.

The other day I was driving on a street with pedestrian crossings when a guy with headphones walked right out in front of traffic without bothering to press the button. And he was looking sideways at the cars with a slightly worried look, but also had his nose way up in the air, literally. Like his snotty attitude would have saved him if he'd been hit by a car.

It started with the smartphones and it will get much worse once more people get used to barking orders at devices like Alexa.

It started with the rock and roll

oh, dear.

I am stating to wonder if the last couple of generations have even bothered teaching their kids to look both ways before crossing roads. Ten times a day, especially at shopping centers and especially with women, people just walk right out in front of my moving car without even acknowledging it. As stated above, the snotty looks only make me want to hit the gas and run 'em over all the more. I'm starting to think I'd get away with it in this day and age.

Spread the word: pedestrians only have the right of way in marked crosswalks. I know because I missed this question on my very first drivers license test. Unless the law has changed somehow.

bubble bump

My cousin is like this. She never watches the news, she doesn't even read news online. She has no idea what goes on in the world. She is also oblivious to politics, yet she votes for the right wing party (she hates immigrants).

Boomer liberals do this I've noticed. I think it's because they are conservative, secretly or not, since their stocks are doing well.

In my life, I've seen two dogs and two cats look both ways while waiting for traffic to pass. One of those cats was mine. Abandoned, I adopted him straight off of the streets. Had a worldly air about him. Just him for five years he would abandon me when new kitten carbon copy arrived. In protest he would leave after breakfast. We lived near a train station and would watch him in wonder weighing the traffic of asshole morning commuters. He lived forever making it into his twenties. Most grateful but persnickety alpha male who would bait dogs. He helped me understand the term "the fur was flying". He would go on a frantic ninja attack at lightning speed. His front and back nails ripping away. The claw ends each pull out half mm of flesh attached to tufts of fur that become buoyant. Like little parachutes they start to slowly descend lighter than snow. That phrase really says it all. It's a balls to the wall frantic, frenzied fight.

Now balls to the wall, was that WWI? Can't even think in this heat. The balls are the plane's shifter and jamming them up into the console (wall) was a desperate tactile move to avoid an enemy plane. I ask someone if they knew the meaning of this phrase and he demonstrated by shoving his testicles up into a wall. He used this term on a regular basis but the ignorant fuck had no idea of origination.

WARNING: I'd better not find some bumpkin hilljack here later on playing Devil's Advocate or I will get myself banned on this device from DL FOREVER. I will lose it.

I always thought balls to the wall was originally a railroading phrase.