Cell Phone Addiction

I have a cell phone. I hate it. I do not want to be able to be reached by everybody at any time. There are times when I do not want to be bothered.

On a trip to Cincinnati this weekend, I became aware of how addicted people are becoming on this little piece of technology.

I went to a concert on Friday night. As soon as it ended, before she left the auditorium and not long after the applause ended, I noticed a woman whip out her phone and immediately started dialling.

The young lady in our party no sooner got into the car than she had to call somebody to talk about the concert.

The next day, I attended a graduation at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The cell phone brigade was in full force. The event was held in a huge stadium. Parents and their graduating children were using the devices to locate each other. Actually, this seemed quite practical, but once located, the son or daughter was immediately engulfed by the masses once more. Trying to locate them would be the same as locating a certain chocolate chip in a cookie full of them.

Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed as if a cell phone has become a driving tool. Everybody seemed to be driving and speaking.

What really got me wondering was when I saw this man in a department store wandering around talking to himself. At least, that is what I thought he was doing. At .
first, I wondered if this individual had some mental problem. Perhaps he had an invisible friend he was talking to. As soon as I walked to the other side of him, I got the information I needed to complete the picture. There, jammed in his ear like a huge wad of gum, was a Bluetooth mobile phone headset.

It almost feels as if people don’t want to miss anything in life, so they have to stay connected to everyone. Somehow I feel that they are losing a bit of themselves. Like a baby having its umbilical cord cut, we need to cut the ties that bind us. I’d much rather share a day with a loved one over dinner than feel I have to keep them up-to-date with the latest news like CNN. I really don’t want to do the colour commentary on my own life, thank you. I would prefer it to be a good book to curl up with.

You won’t find me being addicted to cell phones. That’s for sure. Now email, that’s another story. There’s a habit I can understand!