Thursday, February 02, 2006
"Paaa-stry, Larry?"
The date should tell you what that line refers to.
What I want to know is, who are you people talking to all the time? I have some really good friends, but not once in my adult life have I been leaving work, on foot or by car, and thought, "It is imperative that I talk to someone right now. It can't even wait til I get home."
And that is why I still haven't bought a cell phone.
Maybe people by them and think, Well, I better get my money's worth and talk on this thing every single chance I get.
Or maybe, as George Carlin once said, people are afraid of their own thoughts. They can't just sit there thinking. There has to be a distraction--music pumped into their ears, or the voice of a friend, annoying all the people around them, too.
I'm down with music and communicating, but I'm also down with being by myself, and being able to walk to work without anybody being able to get a hold of me and without the temptation to get a hold of them, especially when it can wait. Like always.
Emergencies just don't happen enough to justify getting a cell phone for me. In fact, I've never been in an emergency. Besides, at this point, I can just assume that if I really, really need to make a call due to some dire emergency, there will be someone very close by with a phone I can use.
In the pun department, Chan and I were walking around downtown one night a few weeks ago, and a vehicle went by with a huge glass enclosure on it. It literally looked like a fish tank, maybe 10 feet long and six feet high, all lit up inside. With mimimal hesitation, I came out with "Glass houses gather no moss!" I thought it was a beautiful meshing of cheesy sayings. By the time I explained to Chan the meaning of each individual saying, as well as why they worked when put together in this case, though, well, it was a little anti-climactic.
In my mom's book news, they reviewed it on NPR's Fresh Air today. Listen to it here. That name again is Girls of Tender Age.
What I want to know is, who are you people talking to all the time? I have some really good friends, but not once in my adult life have I been leaving work, on foot or by car, and thought, "It is imperative that I talk to someone right now. It can't even wait til I get home."
And that is why I still haven't bought a cell phone.
Maybe people by them and think, Well, I better get my money's worth and talk on this thing every single chance I get.
Or maybe, as George Carlin once said, people are afraid of their own thoughts. They can't just sit there thinking. There has to be a distraction--music pumped into their ears, or the voice of a friend, annoying all the people around them, too.
I'm down with music and communicating, but I'm also down with being by myself, and being able to walk to work without anybody being able to get a hold of me and without the temptation to get a hold of them, especially when it can wait. Like always.
Emergencies just don't happen enough to justify getting a cell phone for me. In fact, I've never been in an emergency. Besides, at this point, I can just assume that if I really, really need to make a call due to some dire emergency, there will be someone very close by with a phone I can use.
In the pun department, Chan and I were walking around downtown one night a few weeks ago, and a vehicle went by with a huge glass enclosure on it. It literally looked like a fish tank, maybe 10 feet long and six feet high, all lit up inside. With mimimal hesitation, I came out with "Glass houses gather no moss!" I thought it was a beautiful meshing of cheesy sayings. By the time I explained to Chan the meaning of each individual saying, as well as why they worked when put together in this case, though, well, it was a little anti-climactic.
In my mom's book news, they reviewed it on NPR's Fresh Air today. Listen to it here. That name again is Girls of Tender Age.
Comments:
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I don't have a cell phone either, and not because of the cost. It would be a business expense paid by the company. Oops, any IRS guys here? Oh well. Have a great weekend. And I can't believe that as recently as yest., the Sox were still shopping Big Manny. See my space for details rather than me typing it out again. Not a plug, Jere, for your information only.
I used to be like you in my cell phone hate, but it's cheaper than having a phone in my house and I can turn it off if I don't want anyone to reach me. And if I need to reach a friend in a crowd to ask them exactly where we're meeting or if anyone's shown up yet on my way to a get-together...well, they're pretty dang useful. I think "I want to not be reached" is kind of a weak argument for not buying a cell phone (albeit one I used to use).
Used to be in the "no cell phone" land. Actually, it's been a year tomorrow. Commitment is a problem. One year is big. 70 bucks a month for the ability to call anyone, at anytime...priceless. Just ask my Dad about how I called him when Bellhorn stole a base in Tampa, and proceeded to get picked off 35 seconds later. Not only did Dad get the play by play, he also got the added bonus of me screaming like a schoolgirl 1500 miles away.
priceless.
priceless.
# posted by 
: Friday, February 03, 2006 10:38:00 PM
: Friday, February 03, 2006 10:38:00 PM
"I think "I want to not be reached" is kind of a weak argument for not buying a cell phone (albeit one I used to use)."
Not my only reason, as I said. And about the "turn it off if you don't want to be reached" thing, well, I'd never turn it on. So why buy one?
I pay half the phone bill because I have a roommate. So it would be more expensive, and all I'd get is a "just in case"-option of a phone that cuts out all the time, can't make calls from certain area, automatically makes me an asshole when I start shouting into it in public.
No thanks.
Mabye someday, when they no longer make non-cell phones.
Not my only reason, as I said. And about the "turn it off if you don't want to be reached" thing, well, I'd never turn it on. So why buy one?
I pay half the phone bill because I have a roommate. So it would be more expensive, and all I'd get is a "just in case"-option of a phone that cuts out all the time, can't make calls from certain area, automatically makes me an asshole when I start shouting into it in public.
No thanks.
Mabye someday, when they no longer make non-cell phones.
Expense...yes, you're right. Living with someone else, it makes no sense for you. Contracts with a specific company can be a bitch, too.
Cuts out...never had this happen in just under one year of cell phone usage, but I can understand the concern. My friend with Cingular (I have T-Mobile) seems to get this a lot, relatively (she lives in LA).
Certain areas don't get reception...never had a problem in NYC (where I live in a basement apartment), LA, Las Vegas, or deep south Texas (where I'm from)--I've been in all boroughs except Staten Island, but I've heard enough horror stories to accept this as a reasonable "no thanks to cell phones" as well. I'm only one person, so my experience can hardly speak for the world.
Shouting into it in public...if someone does this at all, they are an asshole. The cell phone just gave them the window to make them act like the asshole they are...in public. You probably wouldn't do this since you don't seem to be an asshole.
I'm just saying, as the number of towers grow and the technical kinks are (mostly) eliminated, I don't think they're as much of an evil as you seem to be painting them (they're as evil as the person holding them). I also think you're under-selling their convenience, but I can respect your views, having once held them.
I love calling that one baseball-team-who-shall-not-be-named "Dunbar". I think it's a great device.
Cuts out...never had this happen in just under one year of cell phone usage, but I can understand the concern. My friend with Cingular (I have T-Mobile) seems to get this a lot, relatively (she lives in LA).
Certain areas don't get reception...never had a problem in NYC (where I live in a basement apartment), LA, Las Vegas, or deep south Texas (where I'm from)--I've been in all boroughs except Staten Island, but I've heard enough horror stories to accept this as a reasonable "no thanks to cell phones" as well. I'm only one person, so my experience can hardly speak for the world.
Shouting into it in public...if someone does this at all, they are an asshole. The cell phone just gave them the window to make them act like the asshole they are...in public. You probably wouldn't do this since you don't seem to be an asshole.
I'm just saying, as the number of towers grow and the technical kinks are (mostly) eliminated, I don't think they're as much of an evil as you seem to be painting them (they're as evil as the person holding them). I also think you're under-selling their convenience, but I can respect your views, having once held them.
I love calling that one baseball-team-who-shall-not-be-named "Dunbar". I think it's a great device.
Really glad you like the Dunbar thing.
I know that I'm not a rude person and I wouldn't want to shout in public or have my pocket suddenly start making a loud noise in a quiet place, but the nature of cell phones makes that stuff happen, even to good people. I think.
You've never had a cell phone cut out? I've never had one NOT cut out. All I hear from people on a cell phone is "sorry," "hold on," and "I'm in a bad area." Most of what I say in these conversations is "I'm losing you."
I know that I'm not a rude person and I wouldn't want to shout in public or have my pocket suddenly start making a loud noise in a quiet place, but the nature of cell phones makes that stuff happen, even to good people. I think.
You've never had a cell phone cut out? I've never had one NOT cut out. All I hear from people on a cell phone is "sorry," "hold on," and "I'm in a bad area." Most of what I say in these conversations is "I'm losing you."
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