Monday, July 3, 2006

Hellphones

Hellphone

Cellphones have become common. Almost everyone has one. I don't. Why? I'm glad you asked. I own a lot of things, free and clear. I don't want to become the idiot, in public, who carries on a louder-than-normal conversation on a phone so that everyone can hear. In a more civilized time, we used phone booths. Rent a black and white movie, there's a good chance you'll see a phone booth and a better chance that you'll see a phone dial which is actually a dial.
Back to cell phones. I make calls to cell phones all the time. The reception is often worse than when Neil Armstrong called from the moon 37 years ago! What the hell are we paying for?
And the worst thing about cell phones is that people talk on them, dial them and text message on them WHILE THEY ARE DRIVING! Even a good driver becomes dangerous when he is distracted. Imagine what could happen if a kid with limited driving skills gets distracted with his cell phone. That's right, a wreck and we all pay higher insurance rates.
Since I don't own or use a cell phone, the people I see who use them usually look stupid. Like they're trying to convince others that they have a Donald Trump schedule. Sad, they can't possibly be a stupid as they look. Especially when the make or take a call and they don't "say" anything. "Hi, how ya doin' Not much, OK blah blah." No wonder everyone's in debt on the brink of bankruptcy. And the ringtones! They're always too loud, intrusive, poor audio quality, often in poor taste and generally awkward.
I know that some people carry them for emergencies and I have no problem with that. Maybe somebody can tell me why people get a call, look at the caller ID and don't take the call? That's arrogance. Answer the damn thing and tell the person you don't want to talk. And if you don't want to talk, why do you have the damn thing?