I hate cell phones

A few weeks ago I had a post about cell phones. I took down the post to re-vamp it, and my hatred for cell phones has only solidified since. So here is my diatribe on cell phones.

Cell phones bug the crap out of me. My cell phone and other people's cell phones. Why? A few reasons...
1 - In public places like trains, bookstores, shuttle buses, people talking on their cell phones is usually obnoxious. Just the other day I was at Barnes and Noble, and some girl was loudly gabbing on her cell phone for like 30 minutes.

2 - People expect to be able to get ahold of you at any time. In college some of us got annoyed with our friend Yarng for never having her cell phone turned on. This just exemplifies the problem: we expected that since Yarng had a cell phone, we should be able to get ahold of her whenever we wanted. Cell phones breed selfishness and impatience among callers. I want to talk to this person now, and they have a cell phone so I should be able to talk to them now. I freely admit that I fall victim to this, but I still say it's bad.

3 - On the flip side, having a cell phone does not obligate you to pick it up all the time. Particularly if you are in a public place as mentioned above or hanging out with people, it's just rude to start talking on your cell phone for extended periods of time. Short of an emergency, why prioritize phone calls over the people around you, be them strangers on the train or friends at a restaurant? If your phone is attached to your ear, you're not only alienating the folks around you but you are missing out on real life!

In all fairness, there are some benefits to cell phones. Safety, convenience when travelling, help when you're lost, and meeting up with people at a crowded place, to name a few. Some people say they like the free long distance, but I suspect that cell phone bills are probably on par with (or more pricey) than long distance bills used to be. As with most things, a useful invention like a cell phone can easily become more of a nuisance than a help; even the best things go bad when people become addicted.

If you are reading this blog, you once lived in the pre-cell phone era; you survived, society functioned, and you were probably just as happy as you are with a cell phone. From a former cell phone addict (sophomore year of college I should have just gotten cell phone headgear), here are some favors I have done myself that I highly recommend:
- Remember that you own your cell phone, it doesn't own you!
- Take back your time: if there are important calls, set times in advance for those calls when you have time and can be away from other people. Then you don't annoy strangers or friends by talking on your phone for long periods of time around them, and you don't annoy friends or family by missing their calls. (I've used this scheduling thing with several people, and it's worked nicely).
- If you're addicted, leave your phone home for a day or two to remember that you can live without it. (This was sooo hard for me, but so healthy!)
- Don't get selfish and impatient if you can't get ahold of someone right away on their cell phone.

A warning: I joke about a no cell phone rule in my car, but I seriously want to put up a sign "No cell calls more than 2 minutes, save medical or emotional emergencies". If you can't detach yourself from the cell phone for ten minutes when I'm driving you somewhere, then next time save me gas money and/or the boredom (of listening to half a conversation instead of the radio) by driving yourself or finding another ride. Maybe this is ridiculous (you tell me, dear reader), but it's my pet peeve, so consider yourself fairly warned.

And on a happy note, for once I can say that America isn't the worst in the world! Moroccans were far worse than Americans in terms of having the cell phone attached at the hip and the ear. Finally, we aren't the biggest victims to technological addiction!