cell phones

I don't like cell phones. I don't have one. I don't want one. They may be a neat, convenient invention but they've caused a sharp drop in the way people behave.

It annoys me to no end to be in a restaurant or some other confined area and have someone participating in a phone conversation, usually loudly, usually not far from me. Could I move? Yes, if possible. But there's no real escape. I'd still hear them or be exposed to a new conversation.

Even on the job, I'm put at a disadvantage. Many is the time a customer will drive up and already be on the phone or get on it before our business transaction can be completed. Often on these occasions I'll hand them their food without repeating their order and won't bother to give them my usual cheery "Thank You!" After all, they're on the phone and I know it's rude to interrupt a phone conversation.

"But Adam," I hear you whine, "cell phones can be a great help in an emergency!"

Yes...IF there's an emergency in the first place. I've seen large numbers of people on a college campus moving along with their phones stuck to the side of their heads or right in front of their faces. That's no emergency, that's just ugly.

And speaking of phones being in your face, it also annoys me when I'm trying to drive through a cross-walk (say, in front of a grocery store) and I can't because some damn fool is looking at his phone and has stopped moving forward. And is now holding up traffic while he tries to figure out a message from someone else.

Cell phone use has dumbed down America. I've seen a person unable to complete a 5-minute task without looking at their phone. I've sat in restaurants and suffered an endless ringtone while some woman tried to dig the thing from her purse. I've sat in a theater to see a play and heard a phone go off even after the announcement to turn them off.

Yeah, there's an emergency in America alright.

Stupidity.