I'm teetering...I'm on the verge...

[billeyler]

OMG...we're actually (gulp) shopping for family plans for cell phones. I think I'm the last gay man in Albuquerque to get one. I've been holding out for years and years...I never wanted to be that accessible.

I supposed when (not if, at this point) I get one, I'll be among the billions saying, "can you hear me now?" and "(*&(@^%*&!!!! lost the connection!" just like everyone else.

On a field trip this morning, I had to laugh. We were doing a dorm tour, tagging along with the parents whose oh-so-innocent 18 year olds will be morosely shuffling into the university system in a mere month or so. We came up the steps into one dorm, and four blonde female cheerleader-types* were all sitting on the steps, facing west, each with their own festively-colored cell phones in hand, all looking at them intently, and quite vacuously.

What an age we live in.

I guess I'm ready to join the lemmings.

But I'll bet I STILL never get a call.

* As with all universities, the summertime is prime rental of dorm facilities for cheerleader camps, band camps, christian youth camps, camp camps. Happily, my office is on the other side of campus, so I'm rarely aware of all the 16 year old running around being 16 year olds. I haven't heard of a youth square dance camp though. Hmm.

Comments

Remember, you have the power...

[airporter.livejournal.com]

You can turn it off.

Re: Remember, you have the power...

[apparentparadox]

That's what I tell Mark. Carry the damn thing. I don't care whether it's on or not, but it's there if you need to make a call for some reason.

Re: Remember, you have the power...

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

It's the training wheel thing. I've used Danny's before...but it's so fragile feeling. And my mouth isn't over a mouthpiece, and there's so many buttons, and I can't hear what's being said if I'm outside... and all that. :-)

But that being said, I've been in situations in the past couple of years where I really wish I could have just CALLED someone without having to deal with payphones or whatever.

And the technology is there.

Re: Remember, you have the power...

[apparentparadox]

Payphones are going away -- it's hard to find one anymore!

And just learn to text message, then you don't need to worry about talking or hearing :-)

Re: Remember, you have the power...

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

During the dorm tour this morning, as you walked in the door of any dorm, you almost immediately saw the shell of where a pay phone HAD been. Wooden frame or steel forlorn, just sitting there, forlorn and forgotten. I even commented to a coworker about it.

There's even a 'sitting' shell in the lower lobby of our theatre, still complete with bench and writing area, minus the phone. It looks like an stripped exhibit from an archaic age.

Re: Remember, you have the power...

[airporter.livejournal.com]

I was never one to answer every phone call with a land line, so turning off my cell when I'm busy with something has always made sense to me.

I must admit though, I was dragged screaming a bit to the first cell phone in my life. "It's just for emergencies. Don't worry - no one will ever need to call you." Now I no longer have a land line, and the cell is often off.

Maybe I'm just anti-social.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

I'll call you.

I'm not sure WHAT I'll call you, but I'll call you.

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

You never DID call me. ;-)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Are you CERTAIN you're not Jewish...?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

But I'll bet I STILL never get a call.

Ah, but you're the caller.

(ba-dump bump.)

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

DING DING DING! Da winnah!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I've never been to keen on cellphones, but I've been trained by zzbear to use it a lot. Being excessively sensitive, I tend to dislike calling people (as opposed to emailing) because it's an imposition. I thought text messages were more like email in that you didn't bother people by sending them, but many people keep their phones near them while they sleep and have iut set to beep for even a text message. So you have to be careful about that.

[airporter.livejournal.com]

My rule is simple:

If I would normally be asleep, you'd better be calling or texting with life-changing news. A birth, a death, a life-threatening emergency. If you won the lottery? Fantastic, call me in the morning.I've been known to make allowances for friends in other time zones, but even that gets stale quickly.

If I'm making the call? Someone is dead, dying, or aborning. No other reason exists for me to impose my life on another in the wee hours of their cycle - I just couldn't; I've had difficulty even when I've been told it's okay to call.

Operating hours in their normal cycle are a different thing. They can choose to take the call or not, just as I do.