10/30/2006

Cell Phones

I have a sad fact to admit to all of you in the technological world we live in: I don't have a cell phone.

What really bugs me is that with any form I have to fill out for a doctor, credit card, job application---you name it, any form, you are asked for your cell phone number. I don't have one. I have to admit to every person that I don't. People look at me weird too.

Well, you know what? I think you cell phone freaks are weird. Especially the cell phone freaks that have those ones on your ears like some sort of Star Trek implant. I almost laugh whenever I see someone donning one of those things. I think practically every time I see one of you people out there that you are insane and talking to yourself.

Of course, not having a cell phone definitely has its downsides. Like, for instance, I am trying to meet Dear Sir tonight at the shopping center by the freeway, not far from here when he gets off work. We had to steadily plan this just now because hey, we can't just whip out a phone on the way there to say, "Hey babe, I am at the corner of Robinson and Turner right now. In three lights I will be where you are at. I'll flash my lights to get your attention." It just doesn't happen.

"What time do you think you will be over there?"

"Uh, probably six. If I am lucky I can get in quickly to get my haircut and be outta there by six thirty. Maybe...."

"So, should I meet you at the hair place?"

"Well, you don't have to. Well, I guess, yes. Try to meet me there at six and do what errands you have to run before that in case I am not done in time..."


This is the kind of dialogue we have well before the actual happening. It gets frustrating. One time I was trying to meet Dear Sir at a really hole in the wall hamburger joint and we were right in the front as he sped right past us. If I had a phone I could have said, "Turn around, buddy." Or better yet, I could have said to him BEFORE he drove by to look to his left and he would not have driven by.

But, I must say, I think some phone people that even use the regular little phones are annoying. They talk loud, talk about stupid things like shampoo and I just wonder, what the heck do they have to say to someone who is probably sitting at home not caring about whether or not they buy Suave or Pantene? Plus, the call is usually always broken up anyway. I dread sometimes the calls I get from people that use a cell phone. "Huh?" I am always saying.
"I--pt---scr----age----ip--ta---" That is kind of what it is like on my end.

My dear friend who calls me on her cell phone does have the presence of mind to tell me before she hits a bad place, "Rach, I am getting to a place right now where I am always cutting off. If I start to do that, just hang up and call me at home in ten minutes."

Dear Sir tells me that the first thing people do before they go into work and right after they leave it (in the parking lot) is call someone on their cell phones. Why?

I can't stand driving behind someone talking on one either. They usually cut people off because they don't want to turn their heads because they have the phone on their ear!

I admit, if it weren't for cell phones some of my friends would not call me as much as they would want to. They usually call me on the way to some place. "Well, I just pulled into the mall, so I better go..."

Cell phones are good for some things.

Now, if I were driving home alone late at night and the car breaks down on the highway, I would be up the creek. Thankfully, I could flag anyone down driving by and they would have a cell phone.

7 comments:

MLight said...

I'm an odd non-cell-phone owner too. I don't need an extra thing to carry in my purse (which we already call my "ball and chain" due to its weight), and I don't really want to be that easy to get.

I may change my mind when my older son gets his driver's license, though.

Emily said...

All things in moderation. Cell phones included.

They've helped me out in a pinch and make it a lot easier for me to keep in touch with my family, but I refuse to zap my brain with all those microwaves, so I limit my use-age.

R said...

MLight---Good to know that you can be as busy as you are and survive without one of those blasted things!

Em--So you are saying that people get brain cancer from cell phones? Ha ha. "Use-age?" :) You crack me up, the way you type things out...

Distant Timbers Echo said...

That was EXCELLENT!! What a great post! I hate cell phones. I have one for emergencies and when my wife calls. That's it!

I see no reason to be on a phone between the house and work. You've got phones at either place, why would you want to be on a phone between them???

My wife and I, if we talk on a cell phone on my way home from work, find that we have nothing to say when I get home because it's all been said on the phone! I hate that.

Again, excellent post!

Anonymous said...

I'm with you 100%! I have a c.b. in the car in case of an on-road emergency... How far behind the times am I? *LOL*

R said...

I can't get a cell phone now!

Anonymous said...

94.7 Classic Rock radio has a mock music sponsorship ad from the "Cell Phones Can Kill You Foundation." I bet you are Chairman and President.

I'm play endless games of phone tag on my cell phone--I usually don't get people and they don't get me. But I'm using it when I'm walking or driving so I don't consider it a waste of time.

It did come in handy Thurs. as there are two Pleasant Valley Rds off of 50--a sick joke by the Fairfax and Loudon County planers-- and I'd still be looking for Herb's house