The queen bee.

[rllink]

The next time you see some kid with their nose buried in the phone or tablet and start to feel judgemental, I have a story for you. My daughter noticed a large number of honey bees coming in and out from under her porch and became concerned as she has a home business and customers come to her house for pickups. So a co-worker of her husband is a bee keeper and he came yesterday to investigate.

My grand daughter is seven years old. She is constantly on her tablet. We all try to get her to go out and play, but she is always absorbed on it. For whatever reason there was no school yesterday. When the bee keeper arrived she ran out to help. She was asking him very specific questions about the queen bee and how he was going to handle her if he found her. She told him that she watched videos all the time about science and nature and informed him that pollinators was her "field of study" and that she knew all about bees.

Two hours later the bee keeper, along with his assistant told my daughter that they were unable to find the queen. That perhaps the bees were scouts, looking for a place to build a hive, or that something sweet got spilled on the porch and was attracting them. He told her that my grand daughter was going to keep an eye on it and if she saw any indication of the queen, that my daughter was to call him and he would come back immediately. He told her that my grand daughter did in fact know a lot about bees and would be able to determine what was going on, and that it would be helpful for her to be available if my daughter called him so that he could ask her questions and get informed answers

I guess that maybe from here on out we should consider that perhaps she is on the tablet working on her field of study and not just wasting time.

[Bob Womack]

My wife and my millennial son and daughter-in-law are examples of this. As a machinist who has moved up the corporate ladder to be a division director, my son still loves materials and mechanics and uses videos for research on the subject. Ever since her substantial recovery from chronic illness, my lovely wife has returned to being an avid gardener. She learns about gardening techniques and various plants via videos, as does my daughter-in-law.

However, whenever I see a young lady walking around in suburban public with her ear buds on and head buried in her phone I want say, "Get your head up and on a swivel! Watch for threats!" But I am a good little boy and bite my lip.

Bob

[Mr. Jelly]

Great story!

I have noticed that often a person gets pleasantly educated about younger people when they give them a chance and make the effort to pay attention to them. The world and people evolve, and the future is always different from the past. That is a good thing.

[redcrow]

Digital media are a lot like fire. They both have nearly limitless potential for creation and destruction.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

My wife and my millennial son and daughter-in-law are examples of this. As a machinist who has moved up the corporate ladder to be a division director, my son still loves materials and mechanics and uses videos for research on the subject. Ever since her substantial recovery from chronic illness, my lovely wife has returned to being an avid gardener. She learns about gardening techniques and various plants via videos, as does my daughter-in-law.

However, whenever I see a young lady walking around in suburban public with her ear buds on and head buried in her phone I want say, "Get your head up and on a swivel! Watch for threats!" But I am a good little boy and bite my lip.

Bob

I can see what around 300 - 3000 people who use our guest networks are doing with their phones. Like this post for positive use, far more of it is about work, school, and not just Facebook.

I bite my lip or tongue when some friends and family with kids on a losing path don't realize our 3 kids use their phones for school and work and they criticize that. Tomorrow is Phi Beta Kappa ceremony. The phone was part of how our daughter pulled off 2 majors, deans list and the Phi Beta Kappa invitation.

There are also a lot of us who wear those buds also hearing aids. I fight agesim by not having hearing aid at work and in public. I wish fighting pant size was easier but spring is here so I should be able to maintain size 32!