No responses to the previous post. That's what you get when you take a 2 month vacation from blogging.
KyKy and The Madster are on a one week service trip at the Lake Traverse Reservation. It's very odd to have them gone and completely out of touch. No cell phones. No access to computers. Funny how in the last 15 years or so, we've created all these new modes of communication and we use them. I'm not a huge cell phone user or emailer, but these things have generally been at my disposal and I've used them on occasion to communicate with friends near and far. When KyKy was in China this spring she sent some email dispatches and called on her cousin's international cell phone. This week - nothing, and she's just over the border in South Dakota. All we've heard is that they made it there ok. Weird. I guess this means we'll have to sit down face to face and talk to them when they get home. Or they could call from their bedrooms on their cell phones.
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Wait?!? There are new posts here?
We finally entered the cell phone age with a $14 pay as you go phone. That's $14 for a phone + 100 minutes. If I want to keep using it, I have to buy more minutes (but calls to AT&T cell phones are free). We've had it for about a month, and I really have to stretch my reasoning to use it.
Example: I'm in the car waiting for Jennifer to leave work. As usual, she's running late so I decide to call her using the cheap phone. I call. Of course, she doesn't answer because she's left her office and is standing in the hall talking to co-workers.
Point to this story: technology is not helping me out. Or maybe: we need two phones. Or finally: Jen should walk home (or bike).
When I used to tell people we did not have a cell phone, they'd look at me like I was crazy. They had all sorts of situations about how cell phones make life easier. My response: what did we do in these situations up until a few (maybe 10) years ago?
My question for all the cell phone users in their cars, walking the dog, walking the baby, jogging, riding a bike, etc. is this: what the heck do you have to talk about all the time?
But then again, I usually don't bother to answer my home phone when it rings. And no, I'm not giving out my cell phone number. It's not on anyway.
I do like email. And we webcam over Skyppe with my folks. Some technology is alright.
I'm pretty much with you on the cell phone thing. I have one, but I rarely give my number out. It has been and will be convenient for us to have them because of various jobs we've had. T supervising group homes, me driving for FedEx etc. We've just grown accustomed to them. And the talking on the phone all the time? That truly mystifies me. Of course I hate talking on the phone. Hearing the one way conversations on the bus or in line or whatever makes me thing that most cell phone minutes are used for gossipy crap or arguing. Please do that face to face.
In my humble opinion, our cell phones have allowed us (meaning my family) to become extremely lazy and disorganised and have become a very irritating part of our life. We don't have to plan our day out really at all. For example, we plan what's for supper on the way home from work--that way we can stop at the grocery store and pick up the ingredients we need. I rarely know what Lizzie's plans for the day are when I leave for work in the morning--I can call Mark on his cell to find out when and where I need to pick her up on the way home from work. I think back to our growing up days and have a hard time imagining the planning and organizing mom must have done. To consolidate trips into town and make sure everyone was where they should be at the right time to get a ride home BEFORE WE LEFT HOME IN THE MORNING was a job in itself.
We have begun to make an announcement at the beginning of our evening meals that cell phones need to be turned off when the meal begins. This is especially important if there is more than one teenager eating with us. As soon as everyone appears to be done eating, out come the phones and the texting begins. BTW--here in Cambridge, you don't use your cell to TALK. Phones are used to TEXT. I have a hard time recalling the last time I saw a teenager use his cell to talk to someone.
A few very irritating points:
A few months ago, Mark's cell broke and we decided to get him Blackberry. The nice part of this is to have internet access from almost anywhere. The irritating thing is I sometimes feel I'm competing with a phone trying to have a conversation with Mark. I have asked him to turn off his phone when we are in the car together, otherwise he could spend most of the time behind the wheel texting. I will be SO thankful when texting while driving is outlawed in MN. The other thing is as soon as Mark leaves in his car, he calls home. I can count on it. Sometimes I don't think he makes it to the end of the driveway before he calls. I just don't get this--we were face to face a mere 30 seconds ago.
Some times I dislike cell phones and most days I hate them. I also hate the fact that we think we need to be so indispensable to the rest of the world.
F and J--I would try to avoid the unavoidable as long as possible. I really don't think cell phones are a necessity to make life easier or happier.
Thanks. I feel a little better now.
Cell Phones are great for finding people to ride with or joining a group late on a ride. If you ride enough you won't care about cell phones either way. That is the kind of peace that comes from riding.
I don't want to be around other people. And if I ride enough I'll get super bored with it and then I'll get angry and frustrated. Then I'll find something else to occupy my time and riding a bike will have done nothing for me. NOTHING.
that is what you think... I would have thought the same thing but there is something you can't define there, really!
It can't hurt, I mean it sounds like you could be angry right now?
Nope, won't happen. Riding a bike is boring & useless for me. If I sound angry, it's because I was thinking about riding a bike.
I'm taking a break from grading and sidestepping the neerdmans-anonymous exchange to reply to Terri's post from a couple days ago:
Texting while driving?!? What? I find it hard to find a song on the ipod when I'm walking. How in the world is Mark creating sentences on that tiny keyboard while driving?
Also, I thought all this technology was to help us become better organized and more efficient? Hmmmm...
Oh Francis, Francis--You need to get to know my husband better. Not only does he text while driving, he uses proper grammer, spelling and punctuation in his texts.
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