Cell Phones

"you gotta learn to hold your own
they get jealous when they see you with your mobile phone"

While 2pac's words seem terribly strange today, and in a way somewhat ironic, it wasn't all that long ago that mobile phones were something only the rich could afford, an impractical device that was expensive, bulky, and unreliable. Nowadays, just about everybody carries these things around, they've become small, cheap, and just barely reliable enough for the general public to use, thanks to advances in technology in recent times.

Still, a good deal of people (though it's a rapidly shrinking population) have managed to hold out and avoid getting a cell phone all this time. I must say that I am impressed with these people for staying out of the mix. When everyone else is rushing to get something, it's hard not to get caught up in it all and want to get one yourself. I remember slap bracelets when I was young and how everyone had them so me and my sister wanted them too. Ok, so that isn't a great analogy. Slap bracelets are basically extinct now because they are worthless beyond the initial 5 minute entertainment value. Cell phones do have legitimate use and they're here to stay, like it or not.

As for me, I took the "cell phone plunge" a couple years ago myself after my mom was sucked into one of those big ol' PrimeCo ads in the paper that promised a free phone and called itself a "College Student Special" or something. Naturally, my mom (who is that type of typical Asian mom who buys like 300 gallons of milk when it's on sale at Dominicks) rushed me to sign up for that so-called special deal. Eventually, I was left with a pretty crappy phone that I never asked for and a year of crappy service on my contract.

A lot of people reading have probably experienced something similar in their own lives, when their mom or dad decides they need a "Son/Daughter Tracking Device," strap a cell phone to ther kid, and send them merrily off to school. In my case, my mom never actually called me that much on my phone, partly because I was a well behaved child, got decent grades, and never really made them worry. Probably equally as important a factor was her being Chinese and unwillingness to waste a "long-distance call" from the (630) to the (217) area code.

Anyways, as the story goes, I soon became attached to my PrimeCo Audiovox phone (mostly because my sister was able to program Britney Spears' "You Drive Me Crazy" as its ringer), but eventually I got tired of the PrimeCo stuff and switched to Cingular and a new phone with free nights and weekends. This is the phone I've been using for the past year, and I've found that while I once thought I would never have any use for a cell phone, it's become almost an extension of my right hand, and I doubt I could ever go back to life without one.

Now, I can't go anywhere without taking my phone with me. I realized this fact a couple months ago when I had to send my phone in for repairs and was left without it for a few hours. It felt so weird not having my phone, I know it's dumb but all I kept thinking is, what if my car breaks down here and I gotta call someone? What if someone has to reach me and it's a real big emergency? Logically, neither of these situations has ever presented itself when I've had my phone, so I don't know why they were such big issues then.

Still, there are times when having a cell is such a convenience that it's almost a necessity. Trying to get everyone to meet at the same restaurant at the right time is a whole lot easier, especially if multiple cars are driving and it's a busy night. When I pick up my sister outside her dorm, I can afford to be lazy and call her from my car to come out while I wait. Any time I leave my house and forget the directions to where I'm going (that's pretty much every time I go anywhere), my little Nokia friend is there to help. When I'm at the store getting some orange juice for my mom, I can always check to make sure if she wants extra pulp or calcium rich. These might all seem like little things, but added up, it's a convenience that once you're used to, it's hard to live without.

Of course, there are side benefits to having a cell phone as well. For someone as disorganized as me, using my phone to store people's numbers is a simple enough convenience that even I can utilize. When I forget my watch or I'm stuck in a dark room, my phone is there. Bored on long car rides? Play Snake for high score. It's also fun to confuse someone next to you by calling his/her cell phone and hanging up (works better for those without caller ID).

Unfortunately, having a phone can also be a major burden at times. I've become so popular that it's hard to go a few minutes without someone calling me. Ok, so that's not true, but I still sometimes get the sense that I no longer own the cell phone, it owns me. Just the fact that I can't go anywhere without having it with me is a bad sign. Other people have the worse habit of forcing themselves to pick up the phone every time it rings, no matter what the situation, and without considering if it might be rude to the person you're talking to face-to-face, or thinking about what kind of place and time it is (I'm sometimes guilty of that myself, so please forgive me while I work on changing for the better). I would say that there are very, very few things important enough that someone could be calling for that they couldn't leave a message and wait for you to call them back when it's more appropriate.

Before I launch into a whole thing about cell phone courtesy, I better stop and just say a couple final thoughts. First, props to whoever is still living happily without a cell phone, for you are the last cowboys of our society and should be proud of it. But eventually the world will pass you by, I'm sad to say. If you do already have a cell phone, try not to depend on it too much. You lived without one before, just see it as a convenience and not a duty. I'll try to do the same for myself.