The grandmothers in my yoga class yesterday morning were talking about their adult children refusing to text. "She says, 'Oh, I don't text, Mom,'" one woman said with an eye roll.
"What!?" her neighbor practically gasped. "Get with the times!"
"I know!" the first woman said, shaking her head. "Text is the only way I talk to my kids!"
I said nothing. I pretended the choice between a round bolster and a rectangular one was a serious dilemma to keep from laughing.
I don't have a cell phone. I barely have a home phone; without caller ID, picking up the telephone is still a great mystery. It could be Rob, my mother, the Queen, or, as is often the case lately, a horrible hissing noise that suggests someone thinks my house is a fax machine.
But back to the cell phone thing—I just don't see the need.
I don't need to be part of the communication machine all the time.
To be fair, I'm a bit of a neo-Luddite. While I enjoy that the Internet is sitting in my lap right now, I don't really want it in my pocket. I purchased my first digital album just a few months ago, and it felt sort of weird and sad. Rob's mom raves about her Kindle, and I just...I can't even imagine. And though I try, I really don't understand the appeal of Twitter. (It's kind of like trying to have an intimate conversation in a crowded nightclub, isn't it?)
Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out—like if I had a smartphone all of the techno-joy would make sense and I too would be texting while walking down the street and wondering "How did I live without this thing?" But I doubt it.
I enjoy staring out the window on bus rides, writing in my journal in waiting rooms, making silly faces at Westley while standing in line. I like that when I leave the house, my gadgets stay behind. For a little while, I'm unreachable.
* * *
[Updated]
When I say I don't see the need for a cell phone, I'm referring just to myself and my life, as it is now. I'm glad people are keeping in touch through text and Twitter and what have you. My closest friends in high school didn't actually go to my high school—they lived in other parts of the country! We met online back in the early days of AOL, and e-mailed each other on an almost daily basis. I don't begrudge anyone her technology. And I certainly acknowledge that cell phone technology has saved lives on numerous occasions.
For my life as of right now, however, I don't feel I need this particular technology. I don't really want it. Just like I don't need or want other groundbreaking inventions like canned food and antibacterial soap and birth control pills. I also find it more than a little hilarious that my baby boomer classmates treat cell phones and texting as indispensable and I find them unaesthetic and unnecessary.
Now you kids get off my lawn!
5 comments:
i'm a neo-luddite, too. i was the last of my friends to get a cell phone, and when i did get one, my friends were constantly complaining about how i never answered it. but i didn't bow to the pressure. the cell phone was for my convenience, not theirs. i got it so that if i were stranded somewhere, i could call and get help. of course, now that our cell phones have replaced our land lines, what we mostly use them for is so that milo can talk to his grandparents. my friends and i communicate almost exclusively via email, and that is awesome!
I have a cell, and it keeps the internet in my purse. I like that I can use it when I'm bored and there's nothing good to read in a Dr's office. If I'm in bed and I don't want to get out from under the comfy covers, I can catch up on friends' blogs or Twitter before Alexa wakes. Though, I would much rather communicate digitally on my laptop, and I generally save all of my replying for a real keyboard.
That said....I almost never answer my phone when it rings. Texting IS the best way to get in touch with me, but I don't always answer back right away. If I'm with my daughter, I usually have my phone in my bag rather than in my face. She likes to hang out with me...and I with her. I don't get the people at the park glued to their phones while their kids run while, WHO in the world has that many people to talk to?
I do feel naked if I leave it at home, and I'm convinced it will be the day I crash into something.
When you and Allison get cell phones (maybe in 10 years) I want to text you both ;D
BTW, do you Skype?
No, Noelle doesn't skype much to the chagrin to her friends who would love to see her when they talk to her. We could have skype dates, but no, someone hasn't downloaded skype.
I have cellphone. I break it lots. It's usually off. Sometimes the battery dies. I'm terrible at answering at and I never check the messages. I'm way better at checking texts BECAUSE they are more like email. I don't feel the need to have the internet in my pocket and I don't. All of this might turn into a problem, when I'm a 'real' doctor and not a student doctor but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it -- but I'll probably have to go back over it to look for my cell phone.
~Sarah
AHAHAHA!! Amber!! And I have secretly wanted to Skype both of you because I'm a creeper.
I do have a cell phone, but it's not a "cool" one. It's mainly to keep me safe if I break down somewhere, or there's an emergency that happens while I'm away from home and Julian's school needs to contact me or something like that. We just got texting this year, which makes me feel very cool, even though it really just makes me very 2001. Ha!
I like to say that I love not having a cool phone, and never having cable in my entire life. That I don't want to be that connected. But I kind of do. Honestly, if money weren't an issue, I'd probably have all the cool gadgets. But I'm still very opposed to people who talk on the phone while driving, people who talk or text while they're out to dinner with someone or while they're in line at a grocery store or coffee shop, and people who generally ignore real relationships for being on their phones. It seems like technology takes a huge chunk out of humanity when people are too busy looking at their cell phones to look a cashier in the eye and say hello. I don't like that that's where society is headed, or already is; I don't know. It just makes me really sad.
Well in defense of technology, I just have to say that in emergencies I am glad I have a phone. NYC is a dangerous place and cell phones have helped peeps keep in touch when it mattered most. It has also deterred perps on late night walks home from the subway. Also, as a non stay at home, my sitter and I need to keep in touch. And, I do enjoy texting but not at the expense of talking to my kids or writing.
As far as the kindle, I am so glad I do not need to break my back carrying a bazillion books for my research projects. I still LOVE books and libraries but I do not miss printing off those thousand page articles. I know people did it before without the new gadgets but people also use to walk and/or ride horses before the car was invented! It is all about balance!
Post a Comment