This weblog is about cellular telephones
Unto now, I’ve been happy not to have a cell phone. My rationale for this was that cell phones are annoying and cost money that I could spend better somewhere else. Also, I liked being unreachable—for example, if I were out walking in the woods, I wouldn’t want to talk with someone on my cell phone, because that would ruin the experience. I also always get annoyed when I’m talking with someone and they get a phone call, and talk to that person instead of me, who am currently with them in real life, and I didn’t want to be the guy who does that. And after all, before the 1990s people got along just fine for centuries going to college without cell phones, so I should be able to just as well, especially since I’ve got an advantage over all those previous decades in that I can use email too. But I’ve been coming to realize that it doesn’t work quite like that. It’s hard to get along without a cell phone because society has morphed to make them the first means of communication that people think about.
For example, it seems—at least in college—that people don’t honor meeting times anymore, or even think about meetings in terms of a certain time, especially if it’s just two people meeting. They just ask your cell phone number, and say they’ll call you and figure out when to meet. No one sets a time for hanging out anymore, as I imagine they did before cell phones. They just call someone and say, “Wanna hang out?” When I tell someone I don’t have a cell phone, it throws them off, and I get the feeling when I’m setting up a meeting time with them that it’s something they haven’t done in a while. And since people always have the luxury of changing a meeting time, they probably don’t think as hard about whether they might have some sort of conflict. It’s all well and good except when they’re going to meet with me, and then realize they’re going to be late, and so I stand there for several extra minutes, puzzled and wondering whether I misremembered the time.
It also seems like, now that there are cell phones, people don’t use other forms of communication with quite as much dedication. Over the last few days I’ve been trying to get in touch with Eric a lot to figure out when we can do another of our awesome exploits, but I’ve been writing to him with email, and out of probably six or seven emails that I’ve sent him, all of them asking for a reply, he’s replied once. I just have to find him face to face, and he doesn’t go to any meals, so it’s caused me to have to delay our exploit. To sum up, it’s annoying not to have a cell phone, because everyone else has one and it seems like it’s the only way they talk to each other anymore.
So I guess this summer I’ll get one. Probably a cheap one, without a lot of features that I won’t use, and probably a pay-as-you-go thing. I’m not real happy about it, but I’ve concluded that people just can’t deal with it these days if I don’t have one.
Oh, a couple weeks ago, I was snooping through file cabinets in Bob’s, and in one of them I found a big Quaker Oatmeal canister full of CDs. I ripped a bunch of them onto my computer. Got some Radiohead, Barenaked Ladies, Die Toten Hosen (which is German for The Dead Pants), System of a Down, and some bands with interesting names: The Afghan Whigs and The Alphabetical Order. I like that around here you can just happen upon about a hundred hours of music. Too bad a lot of it was scratched beyond repair.
File under: deep thoughts, civilization, technology
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12 Comments
Anonymous
HistoryCell phones sometimes do make life a little easier. Like if I called you when we were in Newton heading for Grinnell to see if you were free. Since, however, you didn’t send me any phone number (cell or land based) where I could reach you today or tomorrow, as I mentioned in my Facebook note, I am going to assume you will be too busy during finals to want us to stop by. That is absolutely fine, as we don’t want to do anything to mess up your finals week.
I haven’t seen Grinnell’s fall schedule, but I hope you will still be able to come to our anniversary celebration on August 15th, plus or minus a day or two. You can see my invite on Facebook. You also don’t have to decide until the time comes, but I do hope you’ll think of adding it to your summer schedule.
Love, Aunt E.
Anonymous
HistoryNNNOOOOoooooo!
Don’t get a cellphone! We all live vicariously through you and your simple ways. Most of the time I want to smash mine with a hammer. Everybody should be unreachable for a few stretches in a day. You are our only hope!
Dave
Chuck
HistoryAch, I forgot to say anything to you! I’ll definitely be free, and if you come by at 8 pm, you can come to the book launch that we’re doing for the fantasy book that we of Press have published!
But I don’t think I’ll be able to go to that August 15th thing. I’ll be doing GOOP then. Sorry.
Chuck
HistoryDon’t worry, Dave, I won’t take calls in front of people I’m talking to, and I’ll leave the phone behind a lot of the time. Same old Nathanael, but with added Occasional Cell Phone feature.
Anonymous
HistoryWe’re in Lincoln, NE, tonight, probably will get to Grinnell sometime around 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. Tuesday. We won’t try to stay until 8 p.m., though. I don’t know how to find you, though, with no phone number. I’ll do the best I can. If we miss you, perhaps we’ll see you at a later date. Sorry you can’t come in August, but your GOOP program takes priorty, for sure.
Aunt E.
Chuck
HistoryYou can use any phone on campus to call my room, which is extension 9052. To call from off campus, the area code is 641 and then you just put 269 in front of the extension. That’ll reach me if I’m in my room. I gave you my number all piecemeal because who knows, maybe there are spambots out there that collect numbers for telemarketers.
Anonymous
HistoryTell us more about your commission, please-when you have time, of course. Your first priority is your final exams, natch. Grandma
Chuck
HistoryGrandma is talking about my Facebook status, which says I just got my first design commission. (I still maintain that it’s unnatural for one’s grandma to be on Facebook, but that’s another matter altogether.) The commission is for the guy I worked with at CERA. He wants a logo for a prairie landscaping service that he’s starting up this summer. Someone reminded him that I do font design, and so he offered to pay me some money for a logo. I’m pretty stoked. I just gained a résumé builder, and I’m helping out a friend, and I’m getting some money. Not a bad deal.
Anonymous
HistoryExcellent! We’ll see you soon–this weekend, probably. But hey, why shouldn’t Grandmas be on facebook anyway??????????? Are their fingers supposed to be so arthritic that they can no longer type, or are they supposed to be so brain dead that they can no longer read or understand anything? Or are they just so out of touch they shouldn’t be allowed to live in the real world any more? Granny power, that’s what I say! Grandma
Anonymous
HistoryWe will stop by this afternoon and call. If you are there, fine , if not see you some other time. Aunt E.
Anonymous
HistoryCOWABUNGA: That is great. Congrats. G.Pa.
Anonymous
HistoryWe sure enjoyed our short visit. Hope everything went well with your PRESS “release”! Have a good trip home.
Aunt E.