Pestering Google prompts to link this blog to a cell phone, which I will not and cannot do, have me wondering if soon Google will make it mandatory to have an operational cell phone in order to link to their services. I hope not. While I tend to march with technology at the back of the parade, that is way too Big Brother for me.
Over the last few years I've gone from a plan with very few minutes that I was so happy to be out of, to a prepaid phone I'm more satisfied with. Within my city both carriers have significant areas where there is no reception and there are times when messages come in hours later after they were left, floating around in space I guess. I found myself waiting until the day before my unused minutes expired to make dozens of phone calls to use those minutes, and found that the limited day minutes didn't work for business and the free after 7 pm and before 7 am calls didn't work for my personal life, especially not long distance, which had been my primary motivation for signing up in the first place, to kill the long distance land line bill.
I left that phone in a restaurant a month before the plan expired and decided to try life without a phone. I went 4 1/2 months before I got a prepaid plan with another carrier, and so far I've paid on time, without getting any benefit to my credit rating. I don't care. I like the idea that I can walk away without any penalty. For ten dollars more than I was playing on the previous plan I have texting and internet. I'm presently really irritated with two friends who want to text instead of speak, and who don't know that 9:30 PM is a little late to keep up the conversation about nothing important.
Once in a while I forget my cell phone at home and get to experience what life was like just a few years ago before I felt insecure without a cell on me. The way I feel as though I'm missing something really concerns me. When I get really radical I wonder when exactly is it going to be manditory for us humans to be chipped the way they do dogs and cats these days.
REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE PRETTY SURE THAT IF THERE WAS AN EMERGENCY YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO SUMMON HELP? REMEMBER WHEN YOU WORKED YOUR WHOLE DAY AT WORK FOR YOUR BOSS, making a limited number of personal calls on your break or lunch hour? REMEMBER WHEN YOU GOT HOME and GOT CALLS FROM FRIENDS IN THE EVENING TO MAKE PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND? REMEMBER WHEN YOU COULD GO TO A MOVIE, PLAY, or THE LIBRARY and not hear buzzing and ringing? REMEMBER WHEN YOU GOT ON A BUS AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLE'S PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS? REMEMBER WHEN YOU KNEW PRIVATE WAS PRIVATE AND YOU DIDN'T MAKE OR TAKE PERSONAL CALLS WHILE SHOPPING AT THE GROCERY STORE? I've made the mistake of forgetting and found myself followed down the sidewalk by a person or two who were listening and wanted more information : this is no way to make friends.
THE TRUTH IS, most of the time your phone should be OFF.
I'm thinking of going without a cell phone for a few months to see if I can even live the way I've lived most of my life till I got one.
