Spooky quiet out there

[dys]

I just got back from a long jog and I don't think I saw a single person out there. Things have changed so much in the last 20 years, man. There is a country club and golf course a half mile from where I live, not a single car in the parking lot. Yes, I realize it's winter, but they have a clubhouse, liquor license, function room, etc. Nothing. The gigantic parking lot is plowed perfectly, I wonder why? Nobody sledding on the golf course hills, either, even though the snow is perfect for sledding right now and the location is only hundreds of yards away from the houses of dozens of children. In fact, I saw no children anywhere even though this is a tightly packed residential neighborhood. Of course, I saw no adults, either. You would think all of these houses were abandoned, but the houses are all immaculately maintained. None of them even needed painting. No broken steps, wood laying around, snowmobiles, NOTHING. There is something very disconcerting about that.
At least there were a few cars driving around. Come 8pm there won't be a soul on the roads, and I'm not exaggerating. The other night in GIM chat, we were talking about beer and I realized I only had 1 to drink. I couldn't go to a store because none of them were open; even if they were it wouldn't matter because of blue laws. I thought, wouldn't it be nice if I could knock on my neighbor's door and borrow a few beers from them? Then I laughed, because knocking on someone's door at 9 o'clock at night around here would surely result in the cops being called. And this is a very nice neighborhood with no crime, btw.
Come to think of it, when was the last time I saw a jogger or bikerider, either? This is soccer mom country and the Boston marathon is coming up, it used to be you would see groups everywhere at all hours of the day and night. I can't remember the last time I saw ONE jogger or bikerider. Actually, I almost never see ANYONE.
My buddy offered to take me out for a cold one tonight and watch the Bruins game. Back in the day a lot of the bars would be packed for any Bruins game, even on a Tuesday night. I wonder if we can even find a bar that will stay open until the end of the game (10pm ish). Things have gotten so sureal lately. Is this the twilight zone?

dys

[Ponce]

A preview of things to come........I am ready to bunker down and I got a feeling that today's trip to the BIG town was my last one for a while.

[Cebu_4_2]

We have a McDongles and its open 24 hours, except for the days it isn't open... yes I have noticed the same up here in MI.

[mick silver]

it happen here also . every thing is closed around 9 or 10 .... after 8 i never seen a car go by but hell there nothing around my place

[Low Pan]

could be businesses reducing hours to cut back on their overhead. :dunno

[Book]

http://www.best-horror-movies.com/image-files/28-days-later-empty-street-small.jpg

28 Days Later will keep you in the mood.

:)

[undgrd]

This is an interesting post. I've noticed the exact opposite in my community. People are out to watch the game and are interacting with people at night.

Like you, I too live in a pretty nice area just outside a major metro area. I'm in the Mid Atlantic region.

[Twisted Titan]

We have a McDongles and its open 24 hours, except for the days it isn't open... yes I have noticed the same up here in MI.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/detroit-schools-closing_n_826007.html


State education officials have ordered the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools to immediately implement a plan that balances the district's books by closing half its schools.

[ximmy]

Where are you dys.. perhaps heavy chem spraying has made everyone sick...

[Antonio]

The atomization of society into a rabble of radical individualists has been followed by its real objective: the atomization of individuals themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomism_(social)

[Shorty Harris]

I believe this to be, at least in large part, due to tptb. Its all by grand design. Back when I was a kid in the mid to late 70's and early 80's, you would walk down the street and see everybody outside, kids playing, neighbors chatting on porches and people just interacting with one another. Now you dont really see it that much anymore.

What You do see now is people in their cars, windows rolled up, safe in their lil bubble world just trying to get back to their bigger bubble, safe and secure away from the outside world. Kids locked in their rooms alone for the most part, hooked up to some video game or staring at a computer screen. Very little if any actual interacting with the outside world.

Now a days our handlers have conditioned us from practically birth to be afraid of strangers, and that there are unforeseen dangers lurking around every corner, to be weary of the old guy next door cuz hes probably a pervert. and that heaven forbid if you should wonder outside some unknown evil boogie man will snatch you up and you will never be seen or heard from again. So, we now have all these gadgets given to use by our handlers under the guise of "modern convenience" and "technological advancement". That will allow us to stay inside where it relatively safe. Away from your branded fears.

Wanna talk to your friend down the block? shit you dont have to walk ALL that ways down there, or even be bothered to have a real conversation over a phone. Hell just push these buttons and a message will magically be sent to the person..Voila, no personal confrontation what so ever.

Its all been contrived and controlled for one purpose, and thats to keep us afraid. Right now we have a generation of social retards. afraid of their own shadows. Why is it that some of these kids either are, or act like they are dumber than a box of rocks? They walk around with their mouth half open and a DUH look on their face. You ask them a question and as soon as they begin to talk you could swear you are talking to Napoleon Dynamite?

[SilverTop]

dys, are you living the Tom Cruse (sic) movie Vanilla Sky. :conf:

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Vanilla_Sky

[k-os]

Shorty Harris, I agree with you and have thought for years that all of this technology that is supposed to be "bringing people together" is actually keeping us apart.

Think about headphones, or blue tooth devices. Even if people are out in the world, walking the dog, or getting groceries, at the gym, at the airport . . . they're listening to something or talking to someone that is not there with them. That way, you never have a chance of meeting anyone new. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a handsome guy somewhere, but he had ear buds in or was on the phone. (Not that I would get up the courage to strike up a conversation - but the devices made any interaction impossible.)

These isolating technologies also skew the fear factor that they're getting on the television. If a person rarely, if ever, meets anyone new, and they often hear horror stories on television, then they'll start to believe that everyone is the boogieman.

[Ponce]

Well Shorty, back in the 50's while living in Miami we used to play ball outside and leave the doors of the cars and home open.......to visit someone all that we had to do is to walk to a door and knock on it, I just to run back home after school ,about five miles, and if I were to do it today I would probably be shot.

This is not the same US that I knew and loved but a new one created by those who have taken control of our government hence our daily life.

[Shorty Harris]

Shorty Harris, I agree with you and have thought for years that all of this technology that is supposed to be "bringing people together" is actually keeping us apart.

Think about headphones, or blue tooth devices. Even if people are out in the world, walking the dog, or getting groceries, at the gym, at the airport . . . they're listening to something or talking to someone that is not there with them. That way, you never have a chance of meeting anyone new. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a handsome guy somewhere, but he had ear buds in or was on the phone. (Not that I would get up the courage to strike up a conversation - but the devices made any interaction impossible.)

These isolating technologies also skew the fear factor that they're getting on the television. If a person rarely, if ever, meets anyone new, and they often hear horror stories on television, then they'll start to believe that everyone is the boogieman.


Yeah K, I agree 100%. Its the ol' divide and conquer thing. Lets give people enough distraction, and enough technology that they no longer have the need to interact with each other face to face..then its game over, we've lost.

Some will say that technology has actually caused us to interact even more than say 30yrs ago. Yeah, maybe so, but its a different form of communication. Take our little corner of the internet here. yes we discuss, debate, and throw random theories about this, that or the other, But think of what we could do if we were all in a room together, face to face..bouncing ideas off of one another. Thats not what tptb want from us. They WANT us afraid, they WANT us to believe that everyone is either a perv, a murderer, child molester, druggie, TERRORIST, or a thief.

[solid]

n impossible.)over, we've lost.

Some will say that technology has actually caused us to interact even more than say 30yrs ago. Yeah, maybe so, but its a different form of communication. Take our little corner of the internet here. yes we discuss, debate, and throw random theories about this, that or the other, But think of what we could do if we were all in a room together, face to face..bouncing ideas off of one another. Thats not what tptb want from us. They WANT us afraid, they WANT us to believe that everyone is either a perv, a murderer, child molester, druggie, TERRORIST, or a thief.


You guys are right on the money. Add in facebook, myspace, etc, I've lost contact with quite a few folks because I refuse to take part in those attention seeking addictions.

I think what really bothers me, is all the TV's that are popping up everywhere. Last week I was in the waiting room at a clinic, nobody was talking to each other. Everyone was staring mindlessly at a TV that was on. I'll never understand how a TV could be more interesting than a person sitting next to you.

Things have really changed the last 10 years or so, very drastically.

[Low Pan]

Well Shorty, back in the 50's while living in Miami we used to play ball outside and leave the doors of the cars and home open.......to visit someone all that we had to do is to walk to a door and knock on it, I just to run back home after school ,about five miles, and if I were to do it today I would probably be shot.

This is not the same US that I knew and loved but a new one created by those who have taken control of our government hence our daily life.


crap, I didn't even need to knock when I was a kid. All my friends in the nieghborhood knew they could just walk right in my front door, and vice versa. We'd be out well past dark playing ghost in the graveyard, etc. I don't think kids nowadays even know what ghost in the graveyard is.

[dys]

A lot of truth in this post. Also, K-os mentioned the difficulty of men and women meeting each other. I'll take a different angle on that point and say that as a married man not looking to meet someone, I avoid speaking to women that I don't know at all. The reason is that my experience is that when a man speaks to a woman they don't know, it is almost always taken for a come on...no matter how innocuous the comment or attempt at conversation. It ends up going one of two ways:
1. If the woman is attracted to the man, she will find whatever he said to her to be charming, funny, witty, etc...
In other words, she will respond to the attraction and not the comment.
2. If the woman does not find the man attractive, she will become indignant, rude, and/or cold.
She will naturally give him strong signs that she is not romantically interested in him. In other words, she will respond to what she views as the attempted come on, and not the comment.

What I'm trying to say is that the mixture of encouraged suspicion and 24/7 sexual innuendo that everyone is exposed to leads to the total annihalation of even the most innocent of friendly social interaction between men and women. This is a big factor in what I call the gender wars (men vs woman) that we see today. No interaction= no understanding or empathy= natural distrust and enmity.

Divide and conquer, that is what the bad guys are about.

dys



I believe this to be, at least in large part, due to tptb. Its all by grand design. Back when I was a kid in the mid to late 70's and early 80's, you would walk down the street and see everybody outside, kids playing, neighbors chatting on porches and people just interacting with one another. Now you dont really see it that much anymore.

What You do see now is people in their cars, windows rolled up, safe in their lil bubble world just trying to get back to their bigger bubble, safe and secure away from the outside world. Kids locked in their rooms alone for the most part, hooked up to some video game or staring at a computer screen. Very little if any actual interacting with the outside world.

Now a days our handlers have conditioned us from practically birth to be afraid of strangers, and that there are unforeseen dangers lurking around every corner, to be weary of the old guy next door cuz hes probably a pervert. and that heaven forbid if you should wonder outside some unknown evil boogie man will snatch you up and you will never be seen or heard from again. So, we now have all these gadgets given to use by our handlers under the guise of "modern convenience" and "technological advancement". That will allow us to stay inside where it relatively safe. Away from your branded fears.

Wanna talk to your friend down the block? shit you dont have to walk ALL that ways down there, or even be bothered to have a real conversation over a phone. Hell just push these buttons and a message will magically be sent to the person..Voila, no personal confrontation what so ever.

Its all been contrived and controlled for one purpose, and thats to keep us afraid. Right now we have a generation of social retards. afraid of their own shadows. Why is it that some of these kids either are, or act like they are dumber than a box of rocks? They walk around with their mouth half open and a DUH look on their face. You ask them a question and as soon as they begin to talk you could swear you are talking to Napoleon Dynamite?

[zap]

Shorty Harris, I agree with you and have thought for years that all of this technology that is supposed to be "bringing people together" is actually keeping us apart.

Think about headphones, or blue tooth devices. Even if people are out in the world, walking the dog, or getting groceries, at the gym, at the airport . . . they're listening to something or talking to someone that is not there with them. That way, you never have a chance of meeting anyone new. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a handsome guy somewhere, but he had ear buds in or was on the phone. (Not that I would get up the courage to strike up a conversation - but the devices made any interaction impossible.)

These isolating technologies also skew the fear factor that they're getting on the television. If a person rarely, if ever, meets anyone new, and they often hear horror stories on television, then they'll start to believe that everyone is the boogieman.


I completely agree K-os, and I want to thankyou for bringing some of us GSUSers together in real life in person, everyone that I met was great and its all because of you!

Thank-god I never listen to my mom, she was beside herself about me going to that meetup,

"you know, that is where serial killers get their victims" The internetzzzzz ;D

[k-os]

I completely agree K-os, and I want to thankyou for bringing some of us GSUSers together in real life in person, everyone that I met was great and its all because of you!

Thank-god I never listen to my mom, she was beside herself about me going to that meetup,

"you know, that is where serial killers get their victims" The internetzzzzz ;D


You are so welcome! I love that bootstrap is getting to meet people all over the place, too. He should start thread for the flying version of the GSUSer encounters that he's had. ;)

Mrs. EE_ and I went to get our hair cut last week, and the hairdresser asked how we met. I became suddenly mute because how do you explain this to someone: "Her husband and I are on an internet forum, and he invited me to stay at their house." It just seems crazy when I look at it through the hairdresser's eyes.

I have become so close to EE_ and Mrs. EE_, having stayed here for nearly 3 months now. (How do they put up with me?) It's amazing that we were strangers just a few months ago.

I am so lucky that every GSUSer that I have met has been so cool. It's almost hard to believe. I sure hope that the collapse can hold off until I get to meet a bunch more on the return trip!

[Ponce]

Right on K-os, and on the day that you get to my home that will be the day that TSHTF and I'll be stuck with you for ever.........can you cook? hahahahahahahahha.

[MNeagle]

Ponce: Have you told Agnut/your ex/whoever is in your will:

About all your booby traps??

You may die alone, or you may be in dire need of help and can call for help. Or, no one hears from you, is worried and sends help. (sound familiar?? Your last stroke?) Help arrives, and they are booby-trapped! So you potentially get no help.

Have you thought of those implications?

You rot. Your TP rots. All for naught.

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

n impossible.)over, we've lost.

Some will say that technology has actually caused us to interact even more than say 30yrs ago. Yeah, maybe so, but its a different form of communication. Take our little corner of the internet here. yes we discuss, debate, and throw random theories about this, that or the other, But think of what we could do if we were all in a room together, face to face..bouncing ideas off of one another. Thats not what tptb want from us. They WANT us afraid, they WANT us to believe that everyone is either a perv, a murderer, child molester, druggie, TERRORIST, or a thief.


You guys are right on the money. Add in facebook, myspace, etc, I've lost contact with quite a few folks because I refuse to take part in those attention seeking addictions.

I think what really bothers me, is all the TV's that are popping up everywhere. Last week I was in the waiting room at a clinic, nobody was talking to each other. Everyone was staring mindlessly at a TV that was on. I'll never understand how a TV could be more interesting than a person sitting next to you.

Things have really changed the last 10 years or so, very drastically.


Device is called "TV-B-GONE"

Turns off any TV

http://www.tvbgone.com/cfe_images/tvbg_LeftPic2.gif

Very astute observations in this thread. I am naturally a friendly guy, I like to start conversations with people all over the place. I usually get the cold shoulder, which is extremely disheartening. I don't understand what people think they have to lose.

[Ponce]

Egypt? I have one of those.......it has different frequencies so that you have to hit it a few times before it works.......but it does work.

MNeagle? hummmmmmmmm you are right on that......I'd better send them a print after I set everything up.

[Book]

I am naturally a friendly guy, I like to start conversations with people all over the place. I usually get the cold shoulder, which is extremely disheartening. I don't understand what people think they have to lose.



http://lh3.ggpht.com/_1LazKD1zDUA/TRQjqAbyukI/AAAAAAAABho/wWjsdAOxNi4/smile-mask_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg

Their smiling mask.

[MNeagle]

Egypt? I have one of those.......it has different frequencies so that you have to hit it a few times before it works.......but it does work.

MNeagle? hummmmmmmmm you are right on that......I'd better send them a print after I set everything up.


You better hope your memory is accurate too. You don't want people blown up looking for your buried treasures (silver/guns) either do you??

[hoarder]

Device is called "TV-B-GONE"

Turns off any TV

http://www.tvbgone.com/cfe_images/tvbg_LeftPic2.gif

Very astute observations in this thread. I am naturally a friendly guy, I like to start conversations with people all over the place. I usually get the cold shoulder, which is extremely disheartening. I don't understand what people think they have to lose.
Thanks for the TV-BE-GONE info, here's the link to buy one:
http://www.tvbgone.com/cfe_tvbg_main.php


If you started a conversation with me I'd probably give you the cold shoulder until I found out you're intelligent, in which case we'd probably talk for hours.

[Cobalt]

It snowed last night here and they closed the schools.

My neighborhood has probably 20 kids within a rocks throw from me and guess how many kids I saw outside today?

2
And they were headed over to one of the other kids house to play video games.

I haven't seen one snowball tossed, not one sled, no snowmen.

Back in my day Mom would have to come and literally drag us home for dinner which lasted 5 minutes before we were running back outside

[Horn]

The irony is that all the little electrical comm. devices are the only chance at saving the human race.

[chad]

mirroring what others have said, when i was 13 or so, you'd have to send a search party out to find us and drag us home. we HATED being inside.

[MNeagle]

It snowed last night here and they closed the schools.

My neighborhood has probably 20 kids within a rocks throw from me and guess how many kids I saw outside today?

2
And they were headed over to one of the other kids house to play video games.

I haven't seen one snowball tossed, not one sled, no snowmen.

Back in my day Mom would have to come and literally drag us home for dinner which lasted 5 minutes before we were running back outside


Reminds me of our (ex)neighbors. Dad would be out shoveling, by hand (3 boys inside). Dad "didn't believe in snowblowers".

Same in the summer. Dad mowing & kids inside.

Fall, looking for a bit of help with our leaf pile, not a boy around. Our kids were out raking the downfall.

One day last summer, a kid shows up on bike. "Hey, can I mow your yard?" Well, sure. (Husband was in a foot cast).Find out the kid traveled over a mile from his neighborhood on bike to offer his services. We let him mow, and asked him to return in the fall. Never did show up again, for whatever reason. But we were so thrilled to see a kid offer his services, we hired him.

[goldleaf]

The powers don't want you to go anywhere and associate with others because you might end up aligning
with each other and organize to expose or overthrow them. Just think about it, high priced gas ( limited travel), families
struggling to just to pay their bills (limited free time) and all the other things listed above. Around here the bars
were always local meeting places, but now with the drunk driving laws and smokeless bars the bar business is way
down. When you do stop to visit, the few customers that might be there are busy typing on there damn phones.