ban all cell phones
Well, I still have nothing interesting to say. It's just been that way these days. I've been kind of busy. But I will take this time to complain about cell phones.
The only people in this world who should be allowed to own cell phones include me and anybody I need to call. Otherwise, they're simply prohibited. Especially amongst "the young" which means, people younger than I am.
Because I think this whole generation, whatever letter they've been assigned ("Generation Y? Z?) is growing up thinking that standards of politeness simply place no boundaries on their cell phone usage. So, here's my rant, tell me if I'm being too uptight.
First of all, I don't like people blabbing in my ear on the bus. We have some profoundly crowded bus lines here in beautiful Pittsburgh, such that you're often standing there, grasping for dear life onto a small length of handrail, studying the fabric texture of your neighbor's coat. And yet, even on the most packed of buses, people can still manage one free hand to whip out the dear cell phone and talk to their girlfriend. Never mind that my ear is 12 inches away. God bless them.
Second, the cell phone has been incorporated into people's nervous tics. Boredom, anxiety, impatience...all of it accompanied by taking out that phone, flipping the top, closing it again, flipping the top, closing it again....oh, and let's check the time 5 times every minute. What happened to wristwatches? And then, I mentioned the guy in last semester's stats class who played cell phone games when he decided he had had enough of the lecture. So there was this spastic, repetitive, obsessive pushing of buttons to my right as I desperately tried to focus on Mauchly's Test of Sphericity. Inadmissible.
And similarly, yesterday, in the Carnegie Library, here I am trying to read about the mossy fiber pathway, and this girl behind me starts gabbing on the phone. The library, for christ's sake! When I was a youngin', they beat into my head the sanctity of library silence.
Now, maybe you disagree with me. Maybe you've all done these things that grate against me so much. But you surely, surely must agree that the following is a serious faux paus: holding a phone conversation while checking out at a store. I've seen this in the grocery store, I've seen it at McDonald's, I've seen people on their phones as they pay on the bus...it's gotten so bad at 7-11 that they've put up signs requesting that their happy throngs of undergrad customers Please Do Not use their phones while at the cash register. How does anyone think this is acceptable? To me, it sends the most blatant of messages to the cashier, namely, "I Don't Care About You." But again, ancient as I am at 23 years, maybe I'm old-fashioned.
Comments
Boredom, anxiety, impatience--I think you've hit on some of the reasons for "unnecessary" phone calls. Do you think it is a way to ignore the throngs of strangers around them--withdrawal from "society" so to speak?
Of course cell phones are another tech toy--and Americans love to be entertained.
Cell-phone use while driving is dangerous--might as well be driving drunk. They could at least pull over if they aren't in a middle lane. And then they could say they'd call back when they were in a safer place to talk.
Oh, well, you already know I agree with you.
Posted by: Jane | Febrero 11, 2005 08:29 AM
Well, thanks for the sympathy. I'm probably the only one who finds these things so annoying, and therefore I come off as cranky at best, and self-righteous at worst.
Posted by: Karin | Febrero 11, 2005 06:42 PM
Wow, at age 27, I agree with you Karin. Feels good to know I have something in common with you 23 year old youngsters.
I am one of very few people I know who doesn't own a cell phone. I'm not anti-technology - I have a blog afterall. Two of them actually (the one you haven't seen isn't interesting, not that the one you have seen is exactly riveting). Anyway, I find cell phones annoying for all the reasons you described and more. I'm a TA who leads lab/recitation sessions. It's funny to see many of my students, at the end of class, reflexively whip out their cell phones to make a call before even leaving the room. Seriously. They're students. Who are they talking to? I think it goes like this: "Hi [roomate's name]. It's me. Yeah, I'm done. I'll be home in like 5 minutes. Do we have any beer left? My TA is a jerk. Bye." I find myself, for 22 hours a day (24 minus the two bike riding hours I do per day) in a room/building with a phone. I have no idea what possesses people to be any more reachable than that. To tell the truth, I enjoy those few hours when I know I won't be bothered by the phone.
Posted by: Jim | Febrero 13, 2005 10:34 AM
Hey, I'm not alone. Nice. I think it does have something to do with being in an undergraduate-heavy environment. I don't remember things being quite as bad at the U but then maybe I wasn't around undergrads quite as much.
You make a good point--why would you want to be wired to a select group of the world 24 hours a day? Sometimes, it's nice not to have to make conversation, especially the mindless conversation that often transpires on these spontaneous cell phone calls. And, sometimes it's nice to talk to other people, to *different* people. What wireless service seems to achieve for some people is the possibility of a completely closed circle of social interaction. On the sidewalk, on the bus, in the airport...no need to smile at the passerby, to hold the door for old people, no need to make small talk with the passenger next to you...all you need are the 5 top names on your contact list. Followed by the 15 names on your AIM Buddy List. The rest of the world can go screw itself. At least, that's the impression that I get from some people.
Posted by: Karin | Febrero 13, 2005 11:20 AM
Save the rhetoric you idiot, it's never going to happen.
Posted by: Getta Lyfe | Julio 8, 2005 09:17 PM
i think cell fones r cool and we should b able to use them even if its dangerus because its there falt and stuff
Posted by: bob | Noviembre 9, 2005 02:25 PM
Cellphones are unnecessary, annoying, and of so little additional usefulness compared to traditional desk phones I can't even understand their popularity. No one should be allowed to own these monstrosities other than perhaps doctors and emergency responders. If someone can't wait a few hours or days to make contact, that is their problem, and society shouldn't be burdened with the added annoyance. I say let's ban 'em all!
Posted by: andy | Septiembre 14, 2006 12:12 PM