I’m a twenty-seven year old woman who has, until now, resisted getting a cellphone. I am the only person in my age group I know that still doesn’t have one (except for my dear Luddite boyfriend). Even my 61 year-old Dad has one! The few times I have had to use a friend’s phone to text I found it time-consuming and fiddly, yet my friends send messages in seconds. I am worried about getting a phone dependence - I’m obsessive enough with emails! Plus I have noticed how often people forget their manners and text in the company of others, or feel compelled to check their phones every few minutes. It is like texting is the new smoking!
Anyway, my employer has kindly given me a flash little phone for work. I don’t see myself using it very often for my job, but I would like some advice on how to use it wisely and avoid becoming a hopeless text-a-holic! Thank you
Your concern with manners is touching and quaint,and leads me to believe you’ll be OK.
Quaint as in the idea that “gentlemen” always remove their hat/cap upon entering a building,or in company.
As for texting/talking in the company of others,it’s the new way of being alone,together.
I say keep it in an out of the way place. That will help avoid the impulse to constantly check for messages. That particular action seems to a sort of societal tic, evidence of our increasing narcissism.
Thank you for the advice - I was thinking that if I have to reply to text messages, I’ll excuse myself to go to the bathroom and do it there. But in a way that doesn’t seem like weak bladder/ bulimia / drug habit etc. I can also see myself havig it turned off most of the time - which kinda negates the reason for carrying one around.
And cheers for responding to my first post. I have been lurking around this site like a fungus for the last four months, and it feels incredible getting replies from people I’ve ‘only read about’. Heh heh!
Heh. So true! It’s rude and annoying and self-absorbed yet we do it in social situations.
ETA: By “we”, I mean they, of course. I’ve not yet bothered to learn how to text. I just turn to my kid and say, “Hey, text your Aunt Trish for me, 'kay?” Much easier.
I’m 45 and only have a cell phone because I inherited my wife’s old cell phone.
I hate them.
I communicated perfectly fine without them.
We used to have some sort of “work around” for not getting that container of “Sunny-D” on the way home from work or communicating what my supper preference was.
Or where exactly I was on the road home, within meters. I detest cell phones. Although in an emergency (which – of course – I’ll never be involved) they might be useful.
I’ve had the day off work due to a stomach bug and I just realised I should probably check the phone to see if there are any messages - agghh! I’m hating it already… it’s like having a Tamagotchi.
I don’t text. EVER. That could be because I have one of those demon-spawn Nextel phones, and I two-way with everyone I need to get in quick contact with.
There is only one thing to do. Find the nearest train track, place the phone on the rails and wait for on oncoming freight train. No text messages after that.
Lot’s of people bitch about cell phones, but I couldn’t do my job and live in a large city without one. I’m out of the office enough and I don’t want to be constantly looking for pay phone to check for voice messages or having to run back to the office for email messages when I can access my email from my phone.
Depending on the phone , some are easier than others to text with and it becomes almost second nature to tap out a conversation.
I have no idea how you might even compare texting to smoking , even in the eighties smoking was relegated to bars , clubs and eating establishments, while you can text anywhere except for aircraft at the moment, but I guess its fashionable.
I’d be more annoyed over someone using voice and bluetooth headsets ,than I am about people texting.
Find out how to use the vibrator setting on the phone and avoid using ringtones, above all else make sure that the corporate plan that you are on , has a text message plan that does not whack you with a large bill. Text messages are a delayed form of communication , you dont have to reply right away.
I really have no advice, just a similar tolerance of cellphones. I have a Virgin Mobile phone and get the top-up cards. I spend $20 every 3 months and the only person that calls me (or who I call) is my husband. More often than not, the phone sits in my purse, turned off. We live in the boonies, so it drains the battery when it’s looking for a signal, so I just leave it off most of the time. I can only get a signal when I’m about 3 miles from my house.
I tried texting once and it was so aggravating that I haven’t done it again.
That sounds sexy! I’ll have to use my phone more often!
If you hardly ever text you won’t get proficient enough at it for it to be useful, therefore you won’t have to worry about it. The only time I ever text is when I’m at some place where a friend would be jealous of me, and then I’ll text them with a picture. This is usually at some concert, or place that is chock full of hot women. I’ve probably only sent 20 texts in my life.
My college age nephew says that it’s useful when you are telling 200 of your closest buddies to meet up for drinks somewhere. I think you should learn to do it, just in case you are in the situation where you’ve driven off the side of a cliff and the service is too crappy to get a voice signal, but you can still get a text message through.
I mean, my cellphone has this great feature, it allows me to place and recieve calls, and nothing else
wait a tic…that’s not strictly true, it does have one game on it, an incredibly realistic Driving game, the graphics are incredible, they look so real, and it’s a full 360 degree immersive environment
the only downside is this “phone” is horribly expensive, it’s about $15,000 and not exactly pocket-freindly, in fact, it’s rather bulky and heavy…
okay, I admit it, it’s my car, my Saturn Ion with OnStar and hands-free dialing, and since I only use my cell phone in the car, I cancelled my Verizon cell phone service and just use the OnStar phone
…or I will in two weeks after the car is repaired, until then, I’m phoneless and I don’t miss it one iota
I love my wireless phone. I have three handsets, which has gotten me teased although now my husband is glad I collected them (since he’s using one of my cast-offs, a year-old Samsung A900). I have a Moto Q and since I am self-employed (consultant) I rely on that handset for everything–email, phone calls, calendar, contacts, text messages, pictures, One Note, it does pretty much everything except wash my dishes. I couldn’t love it more if it did.
I think you’ll be fine with it. You could do with the texts the same thing that my employer told me to do about emails. Only check them twice a day. Once in the morning time and then answer any you have and then again in the afternoon and answer those.
I do not use a cell phone. I did for one year about 5 years ago but as soon as the contract was up I tossed the phone.
I’ve been meaning to get one of those pre-paid minutes phone from Wla-Mart or somewhere and then leave it in my truck in case I get stuck on the side of the road.
