[lit-ideas] Re: more cell phone spottings
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:56:11 EST
<<If we use cell phones to communicate too much...why? What does
that say about us? Are we becoming increasingly insecure,
unwilling to live life alone, in need of some kind of reassurance
that cell phones offer? Or is it nothing more complicated than
that we have paid a lot for our new toy and we want to use it?>>
Ah. Cell phones and courtesy.
When I was a kid (sometime before the dinosaurs reigned) not only did we not
have cell phones, we did not have cordless phones. We had two phones in
the house, both corded and immovable; one in the kitchen and one in a bedroom.
Remember the days of "party lines"? Yes, we were on one. Frequently when
lifting the phone to place a call we would find ourselves privvy to a
conversation not meant for our ears, rather than a dialtone.
My Mother had a "friend" (well, acquaintance who latched onto her for her
patience-factor) from Church -- Norma. I still remember her name. Norma was
a
clinically diagonsed hypochondriac. And I'm sure there were multiple more
neuroses at play. In any event, Norma used to call Mom on a daily basis to
tell her all the details of her latest disease, a litany of symptoms, and how
the Doctors wouldn't believe her or didn't pay attention or didn't know what
to do to help her. These "conversations" (largely one-sided) lasted 2 - 3
hours. Mom was too tender-hearted to simply hang up. It wasn't polite, you
know. And every time she tried to excuse herself the response was something
like "Okay. Bye, Oh, by the way...." and she was off and running again. The
most truly frustrating thing about this is that the only way Mom could hold
the reciever up to her ear was by either standing next to the phone table or
sitting in the chair pulled up to it. Essentially chained to a couple square
feet of space.
She would have killed for a cell phone.
========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] Re: more cell phone
spottings Date: 11/21/05 11:21:19 AM Central Standard Time From:
_mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxxx (mailto:mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx) To:
_lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on:
Teemu described a lecturer who said, "We communicate too much as
it is, so it isn't really helpful... Excuse me, I have to take
this. (...) See what I mean?"
If we use cell phones to communicate too much...why? What does
that say about us? Are we becoming increasingly insecure,
unwilling to live life alone, in need of some kind of reassurance
that cell phones offer? Or is it nothing more complicated than
that we have paid a lot for our new toy and we want to use it?
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
