# Do you carry your cell phone everywhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196 "2010-08-23T20:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/81 "2010-08-25T12:49:33Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > My cell is my alarm, and my boss requires that I be reachable at all times (he goes nuts if we don’t answer our phones) so mine is always on and always nearby. > > In case you’re wondering…why no, I’m not a medical professional who saves lives. I’m just a bartender. But he’s that kinda guy. There are situations where a good bartender can be a life saver. Thank you for all you do!😉 ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/82 "2010-08-25T13:39:56Z")
It’s always around me. Either in my purse, on my desk or table or couch or charging station at my bed. My husband and I just have our cell phones; there’s no land line and no plans to ever get one. I don’t even like calling on my phone, but I txt just about everyone\* and use my iPhone for tons of things. It’s practically an extension of my arm. I seriously can’t _imagine_ having a cell phone and keeping it turned off. It’s easier to just think about not having a cell phone at all. - and get momentarily frustrated when I want to talk to older (60+) friends who don’t text and always have their cell off. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/83 "2010-08-25T13:44:38Z")
Almost always - in the office I leave it on the desk when going to the toilet as I consider it Not Done to answer the phone there. Also when cycling or driving I don’t answer the phone, of course. In meetings I switch to vibrate. It is actually more convenient to me to be reachable almost always because an incoming call is quickly dealt with when taken at once - much quicker than chasing each other’s voicemail back and forth. Also the people I telephone with are mostly my kind of people - people who only call for necessary facts and transactions; the calls are usually just for 20-60 seconds. Curious when I think of it - I often do snappy half-minute calls to set up a meeting where we talk away the evening. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/84 "2010-08-25T17:11:40Z")
It’s at least near me almost all the time, with the significant caveat that my office is in a “no cell phones” part of our building. (While I’m in there, it sits in a cabinet just outside our work area along with many of my co-workers’ phones.) At home “near me” means someplace in the house, where I’d hear it if it rang. About the only person who ever calls me is my wife, but I use the internet and other applications on this thing all the time and feel somewhat lost without it. It’s basically never turned off - I can (and often do) ignore calls that I’m not interested in taking at the moment, but I do like to know that one has come in. I reluctantly got my first cell phone in 2005, at the age of 34. Especially after I transitioned to a smartphone in 2008, I don’t relish the thought of going back. I don’t use it as a phone all that much, but it’s like Reverse gear in your car; you spend relatively little time actually utilizing it, but things would be much more difficult if it wasn’t available. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/85 "2010-08-25T17:24:08Z")
I carry my cell phone when I feel I’ll need it. Otherwise, it’s in the van. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/86 "2010-08-25T17:31:47Z")
Mine is with me all the time. (although I don’t actually use it that much–at least compared to the kids I know) My 7 year-old was hit by a car while I was at a baseball game a few years back. I had my cell phone, but couldn’t hear it ringing. Eventually, they put my name up on the score board asking me to call security and I got out my phone and saw the messages. Being able to be reached in the unlikely event of a severe emergency is enough incentive to me to always have it on. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/87 "2010-08-25T17:41:45Z")
For as much as I use it, I should upgrade to [this](http://ablogtoread.com/general/me-and-my-fallout-3-pipboy-3000-replica-whole-wrist-watch/) for my next phone. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/88 "2010-08-25T19:08:32Z")
I usually take it with me because I don’t know who may call me, although they usually don’t. I keep my ringer off. Where I live, I do not have a landline phone, and the sound of a ringing phone drives me crazy. I find them highly annoying. I remember as a kid having to literally drop everything and rush to the telephone because I did not have call waiting and maybe the call was important. If the person never called back, it was a mystery who called. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/89 "2010-08-25T19:49:58Z")
A few months ago, my answer would have been “Just when I need to make a call.” But now that I have an iPhone, it’s replaced my Palm PDA, my iPod, my cell phone, and more or less replaced my Nintendo DS as well, and gone up to the “24/7” category. I still don’t make calls often. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/90 "2010-08-27T19:28:00Z")
I have an iPhone. Yes, it’s always with me. I can play music through my car stereo. I use it as an alarm clock to wake to music. I can surf the web from my bed. I can watch streaming ESPN on MobiTV. I can read books with the Kindle app. It’s a multi-function toy. And yes, I do make the occasional call with it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/91 "2010-08-27T22:55:24Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > … > The poll should have an “every waking moment,” don’tcha think? I mean I don’t wear mine to bed, but it’s with me all day otherwise. Ditto - it happens to live in my purse which is nearly always with me (as I carry daily medications etc.). However I might not have it with me if I’m on a different floor of the house, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/92 "2010-08-27T23:29:52Z")
I carry mine everywhere. It’s a smartphone, and as such is a really handy device to have. Pretty much what **Student Driver** says upthread. You don’t need to take a call on it because voicemail exists, and the other forms of communication available on the device are asynchronous anyway. I do have a landline for internet access, and there’s a phone attached, but it very rarely gets used. Great pieces of technology, modern mobile phones are. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/93 "2010-08-28T14:09:24Z")
Yes, of course! I am on-call. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196/94 "2010-08-28T15:48:31Z")
Everyone around me seems to carry a cell phone 24/7. Even at work, when another engineer comes into my office, he/she is invariably playing with their cell phone. :rolleyes: \*What \*is the fascination with these devices? 😕 \*Who \*are you talking to all the time? Having said this, I do have a cell phone. It’s a very old (4 year-old) TracFone. No camera, no internet, no keyboard, B&W screen. I do not carry it with me. It stays in my Jeep. It is always off. Unless I need to make a phone call, in which case I turn it on, make the call, and then turn it back off. I average about one call a month. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-carry-your-cell-phone-everywhere/551196.md?page=4)