Can't it wait???

America's love affair with the telephone started the very day Alexander Graham Bell said, "Mr. Watson, come here.  I need you."

Through the years we've out grown the status symbol of having a telephone in every room.  Now we are eliminating land lines in our homes and carrying a cell phone in our pocket at all times.  

Be honest.  Aren't you at the point that you feel "naked" without your cell phone?  How can you tell what time it is, balance your check book, set your DVR or find your way in the dark without your cell phone??   It's really quite the little miracle.....and quite the modern day curse.

Thursday I was in a one hour meeting.  Heading in I always turn off my cell phone;  I'm not in charge of much any more and I actually like that. 

I took a chair at a table and waited for people to arrive.   The room filled quickly, the seat to my right was soon occupied by a woman I had never met.  I smiled and nodded, but she immediately ducked her head to dig in her purse for....what else....her cell phone.

The meeting began, the moderator doing her thing as she interacted with the group.  The woman beside me never looked up, it seemed she had decided to take this hour to write a book.   She attacked the tiny key board with great gusto, exhibiting a typing speed that must have taken a great deal of practice. Obviously she didn't know, or possibly she didn't care, that she could mute the key board.   Her typing/beeping continued through out the whole meeting time.  She did take one break when she talked rather loudly to the lady to her immediate right.  She proceeded to give her review of her new cell phone....needless to say she is quite the fan of her new smart phone.  It's too bad you don't have to be smart to own one.   By the time the meeting was over I was having a fantasy about grabbing the phone, throwing it on the ground and grinding it into the carpet while fighting the woman off with a folding chair.   In fact  I left the woman hunched over her cell phone; the maddening beep escorted me out the door.

It's not as if cell phones haven't been good the economy.  Well, some peoples economy, any way.  An entire industry of products we simply must have has sprung up to give us just the right designer cell phone case, the perfect hanger for plugging it in when at home, speakers that can be attached and rotating tripods so we can take panoramic pictures.   None of these items, or the cell phone service itself, is cheap.

 

I thought the 'invention' of the 24 hour  television news channel was a big mistake...but the dedication to constant contact and information our society exhibits makes that look good.    Texting, tweeting, Facebook and calling (to name a few)  gives us the opportunity to express every thought and list every action.   There is no escaping the loud, one-sided conversations going on among the clothing racks, in the grocery isles and even in the toilet stalls in public restrooms.   Evidently most of the population embraces the slogan "it's the next best thing to being there" as they prattle on and on about nothing, or even worse, share their most intimate secrets with anyone within earshot.  

I love the convenience of a cell phone, but it seems almost any convenience brings out the absolute worst in some of us.   Owning  one doesn't guarantee instant access to me any more than having one at home did.  Some times, and in some places, it is not appropriate to be on a telephone call or in a texting frenzy.
   

Come on America...let's take back our independence and relegate our cell phones to the place they actually should occupy; an appliance that we own, not the other way around.

                                                  Life is Good