Sometimes I love technology, sometimes I hate it. Usually I love it when it makes my life easier, and I hate it when it doesn't work. There's one exception to this rule, though--cell phones.
Cell phones are convenient, fun and could theoretically make my life infinitely better. And I loathe them with all of my otherwise technology-loving heart.
A long time ago, I hated cell phones because they caused cancer. But apparently they don't do that anymore, or maybe we just don't care because everything causes cancer.
Now, I hate cell phones for various reasons, but oftentimes it's because of the stupidity of the person using one--such as the people who leave them on in lectures, movie theaters, and so forth and then have the nerve to answer their phones. Or the people who call their close friends, who happen to be in the same room as them, just because it's the weekend and they have free minutes. Or the people who look like complete maniacs, seemingly talking to themselves until you realize they're actually \cooler"" than the rest of us and have a hands-free phone. Not to mention the many people who leave drunken late night messages to every number programmed in their phone. Alright, I'll let those slide just because they're so entertaining.
I can laugh at people's cell-phone-happy foolishness, but they still irk me in the general sense. Maybe it's the fact that cell phones have become a ""necessity"" to millions of people everywhere. Less than two decades ago, people seemed to manage just fine if their car broke down in the middle of the desert. Most people still had a perfectly fulfilling social life. And most people didn't have a cell phone! Wow!
Of course, now is the time when I could actually say I need a cell phone and have a valid reason. I share a pay phone with about a hundred other people in my building, so a mobile (what cell phones are called here) would be very fitting. But I still refuse to do it--and there's something nice about being able to feel reclusive. No one can get a hold of me except by e-mail! Woohoo!
I wouldn't be good with a cell phone anyway, because I would probably turn into the biggest hypocrite ever. Text messaging, voice mail, even caller ID are all new things to me. I would probably go nuts calling all my friends for free (while paying $40 a month to do so), and then get really sad when I realize that most of my friends don't actually need to get ahold of me at all hours of the day.
So for now I'll settle for living in the Stone Age with my ""limited"" communication capabilities. At least I have a few more dollars to my name to spend on more worthwhile things. Who wants to go the pubs?
