WHO ARE WE TALKING TO, AND WHY?
BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted July 18, 2005)
Probably 90% of my cell phone calls are to my wife -- from the grocery -- asking her to remind me what she sent me there to pick up.
The rest of the world, I'm convinced, spends 95% of their day on cellular phones.
How does anything ever get accomplished anymore?
I walked up to a sandwich shop on White Bridge Road the other day, and there were six people..... six..... standing outside the door talking on cell phones.
Then I watched as four men walked across the parking lot together -- each on his own cell phone -- and they all got into the same truck, each involved in his own private phone conversation.
Inside the restaurant there were three people on phones.
Interestingly, there's a sign over the counter stating, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone on a cell phone."
Later, standing near an intersection, I took a quick visual survey of cars passing by.
Easily, one in every four drivers was talking on the phone.
Hasn't research taught us the danger of doing that?
Perhaps most maddening of all, people are on their cell phones in movie theaters.
Not just in the lobby -- but in their seats, during the actual showing of the film.
I sometimes fear a dangerous confrontation between the talkers and the annoyed folks (like me) who paid money to enjoy the film.
Last week, Channel 4 News did a story about how some theaters are hiring police officers to try and keep the peace. In many cases that lack of peace is caused by phone talkers... usually teenagers.
When I was a teenager, I probably talked on the phone too much..... BUT I DID IT AT HOME!
I annoyed my parents..... the way teenagers are supposed to do!
These days, frankly, whenever any phone rings -- anywhere -- my first thought is, "I hope it's not for me."
Who is everybody talking to?
Am I missing something?
Are these calls all so urgent that they can't wait until people are not behind the wheel -- or until they're no longer eating lunch -- or until the movie ends?
I'm beginning to feel like a misfit... an outcast.
Maybe I should occasionally "mimic" talking on the phone, just to "fit in".
And here's the most important point I want to make....... oh, wait! My cell is ringing............ this could be somebody important.............
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