[ccallebs]

> It's interesting they didn't have confidence in the babysitter's ability to take care of you for an evening but still chose to hire them and then monitored them via payphone.

No one questioned the babysitter's competence. They're your children -- you're going to want to call and check to see how things are going.

[whatyoucantsay]

> you're going to want to call and check to see how things are going

Yes. If you suffer from high levels of anxiety and don't trust your own decisions about who to trust, this is true. Many people, particularly Americans, are this way. It is not true for every parent, however.

[salvar]

Out of curiosity, do you have children?

[corvallis]

I’m not the above poster, but I did babysit for several families in my grad school years a few years ago. The parents would not generally communicate with me when they were out. If they did, it would be to let me know they’d be early or late, and suggestions for food or activity if they were late. There wasn’t a routine check to make sure their kids were alive & well.

[gsich]

You do by phoning home without reason.

[blattimwind]

Uhm, yes you are, and pretty clearly at that.

[scoggs]

No, not really. If someone goes out for drinks, then dinner, then a show and the night is going really well maybe the parents want to call and check in. They want to see how the nights going for the babysitter and kid. Are the kids asleep? Is the babysitter content to make some more money for a few extra hours? I think that's all entirely reasonable. It really has little to do with the matter at hand but having to wait in a line to submit or retrieve your phone, be sequestered to a penned in area to use your phone, and then to have to wait in line again to put your phone back into that "prison" system again seems like overkill. I know that's the only way we've been able to identify that works but I don't think there is any surefire method that will not only please the artists / performers and keep the viewers / fans / people in attendance happy.

[stuaxo]

But, how many times will you have to call ?

Surely not every time you go to the loo, if it's just the once it's hardly much inconvenience.

[DrScump]

"...having to wait in a line to submit or retrieve your phone, be sequestered to a penned in area to use your phone, and then to have to wait in line again to put your phone back into that "prison" system again..."

The vast majority of the time consumed in that process is simply getting out from where you sit/stand and back, which is the same in the "unjailed" phone scenario.

Unless, of course, you were just going to go ahead and conduct that call right there in the venue anyway.

[scoggs]

I'm thinking about how annoying this would be at any sort of venue or music event. Someone said prior the main reason they'd use their phone in that situation is to group up with others they came with or met there if they get split up. I can empathize with that 150% and feel that, as someone who will never do more than snap a quick photo of a musical act for nostalgic purposes, the system in place to leave your phone locked up like coat check is mostly just annoying.

It all reminds me of DRM causing problems for legitimate, paying customers when the DRM should only be targeting those who go outside of the rules. That's where someone else's comment about treating everyone like adults and kicking people out who break the rules seems like the best bet, although they also admitted (and I agree) that this system just doesn't work as needed, either.

[stuaxo]

Phones aren't even that good in gigs for grouping up, vs just walking around.

A lot of the time your mates aren't looking at the phone at the right time, or there are so many people that you don't get good reception. Looking up and just finding people works pretty well.