cell phone crazies
Last night I finished the latest novel of one of my 2 favorite authors - "Cell" by Stephen King. Boy, does it have me thinking...
The premise of the story is that, some unknown thing happened on October 1, 2005 that sent a "Pulse" to everyone in possession of a cell phone. That Pulse caused all of them to turn instantly into brainless, murderous zombies. Well, those that didn't commit suicide first.
In order to get through the book, I had to constantly remind myself that (a) this is a novel, and therefore, not really going to happen, and (b) if this does happen, I can only hope that I will be one of the "cell phone crazies" that kills herself early on, thereby avoiding the weeks of horror to come.
So far, the things in the book have not come to pass (thank goodness). But it certainly does make one think about where cell phones fit into our culture. When will there be a widely accepted and distributed manners guide for phone use?
Now don't get me wrong - I am a faithful user of said technology. I do not go anywhere without mine, I hardly ever turn the power off and if I misplaced it, I would have no way of getting in touch with anyone except my parents, since theirs are the only numbers I have committed to memory.
But I often worry about etiquette. (Yes, I really do.) I'm not even talking about my one-woman crusade to make hands-free units the law, damning those caught driving while holding their phones to their ears to immediate & indefinite jail time. No, that's not a blog post; it's a strongly worded letter to my Congressman. (I'll let you know when I actually do that.) No, no, dear readers, I'm talking about how to handle the day to day situations where cell phones have begun to appear. For example,
I'm on the phone (on my hands-free, of course) in a store. We'll say CVS. Another shopper engages me in small talk. Do I
(a) smile & point to my earpiece & keep it moving
(b) tell the person on the phone to hold on & chat it up my fellow shopper
(c) assume that my fellow shopper doesn't realize I'm on a call & just talk to them, with no warning for the person I'm on the phone with
Should I be on the phone in CVS anyway, or is that somehow rude too? I mean, let's face it - as busy and important as I often am, typically I am not talking about anything of substance while purchasing greeting cards and chewing gum in CVS. No, the truth is, when I'm making business calls, I am usually at my desk or in my car.
I can remember not very long ago when it was wildly inappropriate to place or receive personal calls via cell phone while at work. And now, it seems that it has become commonplace. Make no mistake, I do it too. My phone is on my desk (on the vibrate setting, of course) all day in case I get a call. But because of the nature of my job, it is painfully obvious that any calls I may place or receive during the workday are not work related. So have we now "evolved" to a time where it's acceptable to engage in personal phone conversations at work?
A very good friend recently upgraded her cell phone technology to the ever-popular Bluetooth device. I'm still a little fuzzy on all of the benefits, bells & whistles of this doo-hickey, but I'm certain that before the end of the year, I will have one. It's wireless, and it's cool and I'm in.
But I can't help but question why we as a society "need" all of this crap. When I got my first phone in 1996, all I wanted was to be able to respond to my pager (remember when pagers were the hot new thing?). That's it - just to place a call from time to time. There was no logging onto the internet, no Caller ID, no text messaging, no ringtones, no free roaming, hell, voicemail wasn't even free.
All of these features are fun and convenient, without a doubt. I make full use of all of them (except for ringtones, which I find quite annoying) on a daily basis. And my upcoming and eagerly awaited purchase of the Bluetooth ready phone and the accompanying wireless earpiece will be the final step in my conversion into a "cell-phone crazy".
But in the meantime, I can't stop wondering, where in the world are we going with all of this?
P.S. If the "Pulse" that S. King writes about does, in fact, happen, and you see me wandering the streets of Cleveland looking like a bloodied psychopath, please shoot me. All of this soul-searching and reflecting is nice, but I really don't want to live in a world without my cell phone.
The premise of the story is that, some unknown thing happened on October 1, 2005 that sent a "Pulse" to everyone in possession of a cell phone. That Pulse caused all of them to turn instantly into brainless, murderous zombies. Well, those that didn't commit suicide first.
In order to get through the book, I had to constantly remind myself that (a) this is a novel, and therefore, not really going to happen, and (b) if this does happen, I can only hope that I will be one of the "cell phone crazies" that kills herself early on, thereby avoiding the weeks of horror to come.
So far, the things in the book have not come to pass (thank goodness). But it certainly does make one think about where cell phones fit into our culture. When will there be a widely accepted and distributed manners guide for phone use?
Now don't get me wrong - I am a faithful user of said technology. I do not go anywhere without mine, I hardly ever turn the power off and if I misplaced it, I would have no way of getting in touch with anyone except my parents, since theirs are the only numbers I have committed to memory.
But I often worry about etiquette. (Yes, I really do.) I'm not even talking about my one-woman crusade to make hands-free units the law, damning those caught driving while holding their phones to their ears to immediate & indefinite jail time. No, that's not a blog post; it's a strongly worded letter to my Congressman. (I'll let you know when I actually do that.) No, no, dear readers, I'm talking about how to handle the day to day situations where cell phones have begun to appear. For example,
I'm on the phone (on my hands-free, of course) in a store. We'll say CVS. Another shopper engages me in small talk. Do I
(a) smile & point to my earpiece & keep it moving
(b) tell the person on the phone to hold on & chat it up my fellow shopper
(c) assume that my fellow shopper doesn't realize I'm on a call & just talk to them, with no warning for the person I'm on the phone with
Should I be on the phone in CVS anyway, or is that somehow rude too? I mean, let's face it - as busy and important as I often am, typically I am not talking about anything of substance while purchasing greeting cards and chewing gum in CVS. No, the truth is, when I'm making business calls, I am usually at my desk or in my car.
I can remember not very long ago when it was wildly inappropriate to place or receive personal calls via cell phone while at work. And now, it seems that it has become commonplace. Make no mistake, I do it too. My phone is on my desk (on the vibrate setting, of course) all day in case I get a call. But because of the nature of my job, it is painfully obvious that any calls I may place or receive during the workday are not work related. So have we now "evolved" to a time where it's acceptable to engage in personal phone conversations at work?
A very good friend recently upgraded her cell phone technology to the ever-popular Bluetooth device. I'm still a little fuzzy on all of the benefits, bells & whistles of this doo-hickey, but I'm certain that before the end of the year, I will have one. It's wireless, and it's cool and I'm in.
But I can't help but question why we as a society "need" all of this crap. When I got my first phone in 1996, all I wanted was to be able to respond to my pager (remember when pagers were the hot new thing?). That's it - just to place a call from time to time. There was no logging onto the internet, no Caller ID, no text messaging, no ringtones, no free roaming, hell, voicemail wasn't even free.
All of these features are fun and convenient, without a doubt. I make full use of all of them (except for ringtones, which I find quite annoying) on a daily basis. And my upcoming and eagerly awaited purchase of the Bluetooth ready phone and the accompanying wireless earpiece will be the final step in my conversion into a "cell-phone crazy".
But in the meantime, I can't stop wondering, where in the world are we going with all of this?
P.S. If the "Pulse" that S. King writes about does, in fact, happen, and you see me wandering the streets of Cleveland looking like a bloodied psychopath, please shoot me. All of this soul-searching and reflecting is nice, but I really don't want to live in a world without my cell phone.
posted by Piscean Princess at 11:13 AM
2 Comments:
A couple of comments:
* Thanks for stopping by my blog -- feel free to come back anytime (should be updating later tonight.
* D**n -- I always wanted to know the lyrics to that Jill Scott song (smile -- see your title) and now i do.
* Oh and about the cell phone thang. I too love the convenience but often feel the frustration of being "too connected". Sometimes I long for the good ol days where folks didn't think that it was their right to interupt your day with just anything. I mean think about it aside from a very rare emergency phone call, usually what folks are callin me about could wait.
How to find that balance? (sigh)
Be blessed!
-R
Let's not forget the annoying "cell phone checkers" out there. This is a term I reserve for people who need to check their phone like it is essential to living...kind of like breathing. Just a tip for anyone that may be reading this comment...when you have just met someone and you are having that initial conversation, refrain from checking the phone in the first 2 minutes. If you happen to hear/feel your phone vibrating a second time and you have a feeling it is the same person, it is ok to look as long as the person also realizes it is the second attempt at contact. If you then "have" to check it, make a remark like, "who is calling me, i hope there is not an emergency or something." After that check though, consider the phone off limits for a minimum of 15 minutes. Nothing like making the person you just met feel like you have a million other things better to do.
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