Modern life without a cell phone is not any kind of life at all

The Daily Athenaeum ^ | Jan 18, 2005 | Victoria Bradley

[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.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

"Dude! I'm in the checkout line...groceries...just stuff...YEAH beer! Ha ha! So, WHASUUUUUUUUUUUP HAHAHAHAHAA YEAH BEER!...still in line, yep. Breaking up? CAN YOU HERE ME NOW GOOD HAHAHAHAA. YEAH I'LL JUST SHOUT MY ENTIRE CONVERSATION, SINCE THE TRANSMISSION IS BREAKING UP AND I'M COMPLETE JACKASS..." etc

[angkor]

Methinks you are over-reacting a bit, angkor.

Not at all.

A few years ago a woman was cited here in Metro DC for applying makeup on I-66 during rush hour (I-66 is a 5MPH parking lot during rush hour).

Immediately following that were weeks and weeks of (WashPost) editorializing, talk show ranting, yada yada yada about drivers eating, reading, *drinking coffee*, *smoking*, cellphoning, and generally doing anything that didn't qualify as 11th grade Driver's Ed textbook navigation behavior.

You think I'm joking? Only weeks ago some leftie community (city? don't recall) proposed banning *cigarette smoking* while driving in one's own personal vehicle (with of course zero evidence anywhere or from anyone that smoking was any cause of auto accidents whatsoever).

I agree that using a handheld cellphone on a high-speed road is hazardous, but I think the above illustrates that our Nurse Nanny culture spawns a lot of busybody reactions that have nothing at all to do with any known problem or even inconvenience. Just what kind of person is it that's offended or concerned by a fellow commuter drinking a cup of Joe on the way into the office? And why is that busybody scrutinizing the commuter to the left or right rather than keeping eyeballs locked on the road?

[Xenalyte]

Modern life without a cell phone is not any kind of life at all

No, life without a cell phone ROCKS. I am trying very hard to lose mine. I haven't bought a battery in two years, hoping it'll die on me. (It hasn't yet, damn the well-made thing.)

[angkor]

if there is some sort of secret cabal that w ishes to ban daydreaming while at the wheel, I would certainly want to support its efforts.

You missed the point. It's not the daydreaming per se, but how you detect and enforce a moving violation for daydreaming at the wheel.

Like I said, a Nurse Nanny in every back seat?

[chs68]

I'm afraid you missed my point, angkor.

My point was that I don't think it is such a good idea to daydream while driving at the wheel.

My further point is that eating, drinking non-alcoholic beverages, and smoking tobacco products while driving are all quite different from daydreaming while driving.

I don't want daydreamers on the road while I'm driving. Traffic here in Metro DC is hazardous enough without suggesting that daydreaming while driving is an acceptablke behavior.

[Publius Valerius]

No, I generally have to be there at a particular time, but whether I get there at that particular time is purely fortuitous.

I own clocks, don't get me wrong, and I know basically what time it is, but I'm not going to get stressed and have my hair fall out over five or ten minutes.

If I'm late, I'm late. That's the way it goes. In this sense, I think the Spanish really have it right. You get there when you get there.

[angkor]

My point was that I don't think it is such a good idea to daydream while driving at the wheel.

You're still missing the point.

People daydream at the wheel. It's not a desirable thing. But it happens, all the time, every minute of every day. Somewhere on the road near you, someone is daydreaming.

Now, how do you make it illegal, detect it, enforce it, fine it, prove it, determine its severity, etc.? Is that daydream a passing fancy or a deep, detached-from-reality reverie? Will the motorist "recover" in 1/4 second or 30 seconds?

My point is that there is a coterie of busybodies who want to enforce Driver's Ed 101 on the world, refusing to recognize that people have different attention spans, reaction times, driving competencies, etc.

I submit that a 16 year old on the DC Beltway will always be more dangerous than a 30-year experienced driver thinking about mowing the lawn when he gets home.

[quietolong]

What could you do to get people to carry a tracking device to let the government know were you are at all time?

Think of the Ad campaign you can run to get people to flock to the stores to be hip.

There was a “Our Man Flint” (a US 007 copycat) movie made back in the 60s. With this theme.

[CharlieOK1]

what a dork

[Twinkie]

Sean,

How true. I don't have one. My husband has a job that has him on the road a lot, and he has to be available to his associates. I've lived 58 years without a cell phone; I may well get stranded in the car, but so far the Lord has taken care of me in situations like that. It gets so tiresome seeing people with the things eternally stuck on the sides of their heads, unable to even go to a public restroom without subjecting everyone else around to their private conversations.

[Twinkie]

Man, or Woman, whichever you are,

How I can identify! I can hardly stand anything around my arm. I have hardly worn a watch at all in my whole life. I either use the clock in the van when I have to be on time for an appointment or if I'm in my old car with no clock, I did get one of those loose snap-on bracelet wactches to put on in the rare event I go out shopping and don't want to lose track of the time and stay out until midnight. -

My husband sleeps in his watch, and I can't stand it. I think it cuts off the circulation. It is liberation to lose the watch for all intents and purposes, and the cellphone is just another demanding thing and also another expense I don't need. I mean, the thing ringing at home is enough!

[Snoopers-868th]

Get a life!

[netmilsmom]

I'm sorry I took so long.
I know Walmart has them, mine is ATT.

http://www.attwireless.com/

[Oorang]

Thanks very much.

[papertyger]

My computer was disconnected for three whole weeks. I thought I was going to die.

Silly man, living on the edge like that.

I learned my lesson long ago...I've got so much redundancy goin', ain't nothin' getting me off-line short of an EMP pulse!

[papertyger]

I feel the same way about my handgun. When I don't have my handgun, I have to sit when I pee.

See! If you had a cell phone, you wouldn't need a handgun, and you could sit to pee whenever you wanted.

[Indiana Girl]

Count me in as not needing/wanting one. I feel no need to be in constant contact with someone at the other end of a phone.

[mombonn]

LOL - if you substitute Free Republic for "cell phone", I can relate to her discomfort!

[Drew68]

I forgot to mention...

Now ya' tell me! I'm just a day late and a dollar short. Oh well, maybe I'll see if I can take my Nokia back.

Thanks for the info.

[angkor]

Also see my post #112.

The V180 is a surprisingly great phone.

What's funny is the many reviewers who commented only on the appearance of the keyboard (it "looks" flimsy) rather than the superior performance of the phone itself.

I was happy to find a good phone with no camera, no QWERTY keyboard, no extraneous bells or whistles. Although it does have enough flexibility to let you tweak and customize it a little more to your liking.

I couldn't believe that after 5 days (5x24) on standby, the battery meter still showed a full charge. An oddity is that when you reach half-charge (two bars) it may or may not pick up incoming calls, though you might get a few more outbound minutes. I lost several inbound calls running on a two-bar charge, the phone didn't even ring.