• Simulation6@sopuli.xyz
    6·
    7 hours ago

    I was at this gathering a while back and a kid I had never meet before came up to me and asked if I had any games on my phone. Are people in the habit of handing their cell phones to strange children? I said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t speak English’ and they seemed to accept that.

    • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
      5·
      5 hours ago

      Not exactly - it’s way more simple than that:

      Adults in this kid’s life (parents) hand them a phone as a toy/treat/distraction (usually the last one). Or maybe they have something similar at home for themselves. So, a bored kid sees adult using a phone, so kid asks adult for phone.

      I used to do this way before cellphones. When at a house where there was a personal computer sitting around, I was usually very disappointed at being told “no” after asking to play games on it. But I always asked. To a little five-year-old-warp-core, that’s just what those were for.

      Edit: ubiquitous portable computing (modern phones) would have probably rendered me inconsolable after a while.

      • Simulation6@sopuli.xyz
        2·
        3 hours ago

        Not only was I not using a cell phone, I didn’t even have one on me at the time. Kid was just fishing.

    • SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz
      5·
      6 hours ago

      I had this only happen once in a doctor’s waiting room. “Sorry, it’s a work phone. Can’t risk it.” Then they went to ask someone else.

      I have some rude thoughts about parents that allow their kids to do this to strangers.

      I now carry toy cars in my bag and give them out to kids who seem restless in grocery stores, waiting rooms, etc. It’s fun. (: