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Modern life without a cell phone is not any kind of life at all
The Daily Athenaeum ^ | Jan 18, 2005 | Victoria Bradley

Posted on 01/18/2005 7:37:09 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666

I give you a story of sheer terror. I never thought it would happen to me. And when it did, it was so much worse than I could imagine it ever would be.

In my traveling frenzy this holiday, while I busied myself with making sure that U.S. Airways didn't lose my luggage for the third time in 12 days, I forgot my cell phone in my hometown of Pittsburgh.

That's right. I was without my little Verizon lifeline for four straight, solid days.

I didn't even make it halfway to Salt Lake Citybefore I felt like I needed a respirator.

Being without my cell phone felt like being without a vital organ. You may as well have removed my lungs. Within hours, I felt like I needed to be hospitalized. And if not hospitalized, seriously sedated until the waves of communication were flowing again.

I was on Walden Pond, for Pete's sake. Devastating.

I embarrassingly replayed a conversation I had with my uncle that weekend, a rookie to the cell phone world. You know, one of those people who only turn their phones on when they need to make a call. One of those people who ignore the two-way avenue that cell phones were meant to be.

"Make it an extension of your body," I told him, smugly. "Never be without it. Never turn it off." I was being punished for my idol worship of the pocket pal that kept me constantly connected.

The powers that be were out to teach me a lesson. My mom thought I'd learn somethi ng about how I didn't really need it as much as I thought I did.

She was sure I'd come out of this experience with the same air as someone coming out of rehab: with a new, fresh outlook on life and completely free of my digital drug of choice. Just the polar opposite actually. I didn't know how completely dependent I was on my phone until it wasn't buzzing in my pocket anymore.

I tell you I even heard my ring tone in my dreams. I was in a state of complete desperation.

When I got it back, it was like being resurrected. I had come back from the dead. I was a living, breathing, communicating person again. I think I even slept with it under my pillow the first night I had it back.

And of course, my ego was fed with 19 voicemail messages and 27 texts.

And so I say to those of you still without cell phones: You are a species I do not understand. We should study you in science class. Like creatures living without blood pumping through their veins. How do you do it? You boggle me.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: cellphone; college; ego; intolerance; kids; pittsburgh
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You, Victoria, are a sad creature.
1 posted on 01/18/2005 7:37:18 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

I am rarely without my cell phone. And thats only because I conduct a good bit of business on it. If I had a job that didn't require me to be accesible at almost any time, I likely wouldn't have one.


2 posted on 01/18/2005 7:39:14 AM PST by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

Blonde?


3 posted on 01/18/2005 7:40:31 AM PST by handy old one (Never confuse the facts with the issues!!)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

yeesh! Only positive thing i can say about cell phones is that they're handy in emergencies. other than that, my heart goes out to all those self-important/indungent types who beleive that either the world cannot go on without their constant intervention, or that they will die if they aren't in constant touch with their fellows.

pathetic, really.


4 posted on 01/18/2005 7:40:58 AM PST by camle (keep your mind open and somebody will fill it with something for you))
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

I refuse to get a cell phone, never needed one 10 years ago, don't see a need for one now. I will be the last holdout by God!


5 posted on 01/18/2005 7:41:02 AM PST by sean327 (All men are created equal, then some become Marines!)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

"And so I say to those of you still without cell phones: You are a species I do not understand. We should study you in science class. Like creatures living without blood pumping through their veins. How do you do it? You boggle me."

Oh, wow! I'm so ashamed. I do own a cell phone, but it's always plugged into the charger. I only take it with me on trips, and only use it in emergencies and to avoid high fees in hotel rooms. It's off all the time unless I need to make a call.

Benefits? I don't have to balance my attention while driving between watching the road and the cell phone. It never rings at inconvenient times. It never annoys others. Nobody calls it, because nobody has the number.

Oh, I have a cell phone, but it's used as it was intended, not to be stuck semi-permanently to my ear.

I'm so sorry for this writer's loss.


6 posted on 01/18/2005 7:41:04 AM PST by MineralMan (godless atheist)
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To: Phantom Lord

I don't have a cell phone and the only person who seems to be bothered by it is my girl friend.


7 posted on 01/18/2005 7:41:08 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

I hate to boggle you but I do not have a cell phone and have no desire to get one. Standard phones are bad enough to my way of thinking. Being an old goat who still remembers the old hand crank phones and party lines I feel no need to go modern and be bothered when trying to have a little peace and quiet.


8 posted on 01/18/2005 7:41:10 AM PST by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

I stopped wearing a watch and carrying a cell phone. I found that my quality of life increased exponentially.


9 posted on 01/18/2005 7:42:05 AM PST by Publius Valerius
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To: sean327
I refuse to get a cell phone, never needed one 10 years ago, don't see a need for one now. I will be the last holdout by God!

I guess you don't go shopping with your wife ...

10 posted on 01/18/2005 7:42:23 AM PST by WildTurkey (When will CBS Retract and Apologize?)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
I do not have a cell phone.

My life is just fine...

11 posted on 01/18/2005 7:42:35 AM PST by Jimmyclyde (Dying ain't much of a living boy...)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
Sheesh. Is there some kind of point to this scribbling?

I have a cell phone...it's my only phone because I don't have a land line. I don't take it with me everywhere, mainly because they're not allowed inside my company. But I don't go all to pieces if I don't have it with me.

12 posted on 01/18/2005 7:43:52 AM PST by TheBigB (Life is good. It'd be better if Jaime Pressly was here naked with a pizza. But it's still damn good.)
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To: sean327

I have one - aimed at emergency use. The other night, we had a power outage. The next day, I realized my phones were out, too. I had to use my cell to report it, and then my cell was my only means of communication for THREE DAYS!!!!


13 posted on 01/18/2005 7:43:57 AM PST by mathluv
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

Lol, what a loser! :D


14 posted on 01/18/2005 7:44:29 AM PST by Constantine XIII
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

How OLD is this twit?


15 posted on 01/18/2005 7:44:48 AM PST by goodnesswins (Tax cuts, Tax reform, social security reform, Supreme Court, etc.....the next 4 years.....)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
>And so I say to those of you still without cell phones: You are a species I do not understand

I'm just guessing, but
I'd bet big cash this girl is
an Apple user!

16 posted on 01/18/2005 7:45:03 AM PST by theFIRMbss
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To: Publius Valerius
I stopped wearing a watch

I almost always wear my watch. It is one of my few "must have" items. There are only a small number of places I don't wear it. The Golf Course is the only one I can think of at this time.

17 posted on 01/18/2005 7:45:52 AM PST by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: Jimmyclyde

I had a cell phone for two years (a contract). I don't have one now. Honestly, I don't miss it.


18 posted on 01/18/2005 7:45:55 AM PST by Judith Anne (Thank you St. Jude for favors granted.)
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To: mathluv
Re: the phones being out with a power outage. I bought a $5.99 cheapo phone from the drugstore, which I save to use during power outages. It's powered over the phone line itself. So if the electricity goes out but the phone lines are still working, this phone will work. Sometimes only low-tech will do.

Now if I could only find a stove that didn't use electronic ignition to light the oven... It's a real pain having no oven when the power goes out.

19 posted on 01/18/2005 7:46:29 AM PST by valkyrieanne (card-carrying South Park Republican)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

There are way too many like this person, all talking while driving.


20 posted on 01/18/2005 7:46:30 AM PST by Tax-chick ( The old woman who lives in the 15-passenger van.)
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