Cell phones: Can't live without 'em!
Living with a double-edged sword
Few things have marked such a difference in my life as my cell phone. As I sit here this morning, I try to remember back when I first bought my old bag phone. I thought it was the greatest thing ever--to be able to call someone from my CAR! Wow! I kept the phone long enough that my daughter was making fun of me by the time I reluctantly gave in and got a modern cell phone. I remember the student I had set up the phone for me, and, judging from when she graduated, the year must have been around 2000.
That doesn't seem right--surely I've had a cell phone most of my life! I can't imagine how I ever traveled these country back roads and dark highways without one.
I've clung to each cell phone, as it gave up the ghost and had to be replaced by a "new and improved" version. I'm not a big fan of "improvement," holding fast to the archaic belief that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
I want a phone--not a portable computer or a camera or a typewriter. I want big keys that are easy to see.
When my daughter took me to replace one of my old phones, she cut the saleslady short--"Don't give her a complicated model--she won't learn how to use it! Give her your most basic model!" That has been my mantra from the beginning.
As for the texting feature, I'm fine with that, if it's what people want to do when they're not driving! I am horrified by what I see in HALF the cars on the road--drivers TEXTING as they turn corners, pass other motorists, come up to stop signs, and drive up behind cars that are slowing in traffic!
And, I hate to be harsh on my own sex, but ladies, from what I see, you're the major culprits! The texting isn't confined to the teenagers, either--not by a long shot!
My informal estimate is that 2/3 of the women in this area of southeast Missouri are either on the phone while driving--or worse--they're texting! Don't tell me that you don't have to take your eyes OFF the road when you text! To my knowledge, no one has come up with a device which operates by thought patterns.
According to AAA, use of a cell phone quadruples the driver's chance of being in an accident. 94% of drivers believe that cell phone usage is dangerous--a fact I find hard to accept, considering how many people I see doing it. The AAA survey also says that 87% of U.S. drivers support legislation to ban the cell phone from our driving experience. Yeah? I doubt that anyone in THIS area was polled!
Innovations and "improvements" continue in mobile communication, and the future is going to be an amazing place! As far as cell phones go, someone needs to come up with a method to cope with the problems we face as we roll down the highway at 70 mph, talking to Grandma about her chicken n' dumpling dinner!
Comments
- -- Posted by gdh1958 on Sun, Oct 16, 2011, at 11:41 PM
- -- Posted by lovebooks on Mon, Oct 17, 2011, at 8:06 AM
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