# I pit cell phone addicts. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495 "2012-11-19T12:24:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/41 "2012-11-19T18:40:11Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Why DO people keep pretending that landlines were free? I seem to remember them costing more than the $40 a month plan I have now, at least if you ever made any long distance calls. Rose-colored handsets? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/42 "2012-11-19T18:51:11Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Standing ovation and ten minutes of applause. I hate cell phones with a vitrol usually only reserved for sentient lifeforms with horrific criminal records. That’s too bad, because there are some really neat apps that could help you organize and catalog all the things that you have an irrational hatred for. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/43 "2012-11-19T19:00:42Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Yup. I think a lot of Dopers have a fundamental disconnect with what it’s like to be a teen these days. I remember reading a thread where someone asked why teens are no longer chomping at the bit to get their licenses and the thread exploded with people saying they couldn’t imagine not having a license as a teen because it was their ticket to freedom. Cell phones are the same way now. So no one cares about getting the hell out of the house and away from their parents and actually being with someone they want to be with, because they can text? Now _that’s_ a rose-colored lawn, if you get my meaning. And if the deprivation of growing up without a smart phone for awhile is too overwhelmingly tragic, they can [del]write[/del] text a novel about it later. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/44 "2012-11-19T19:10:31Z")
Count me among those for whom a cell phone is cheaper than a land line. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/45 "2012-11-19T19:19:29Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > Count me among those for whom a cell phone is cheaper than a land line. How much do you pay now? One reason people hate cell phones is because thay are annoying out in public. At least I’m not that person. I really only use mine at home. Outside, it’s usually too loud to hear the other person. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/46 "2012-11-19T19:35:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > So no one cares about getting the hell out of the house and away from their parents and actually being with someone they want to be with, because they can text? > > Now _that’s_ a rose-colored lawn, if you get my meaning. > > And if the deprivation of growing up without a smart phone for awhile is too overwhelmingly tragic, they can [del]write[/del] text a novel about it later. More like, if Peggy and Kim want to get together after school, they can text their moms at lunch asking for permission, since the school phone can’t be used for such frivolous things and the nearest payphone is at the convenience store 2 blocks away from the school. And then when Peggy and Kim decide to go to the movies instead of hanging around at Kim’s house, Peggy can just text her mom to pick her up from the theatre instead. Before, they would have had to stay at Kim’s house, since Peggy’s mom was out at her sister’s soccer practice and didn’t have a landline to pick up. And since the pharmacy is on the way to the theatre, but would be closed by the time the soccer practice was over, Peggy’s mom can tell her to stop by and pick up her prescription while they walk to the theatre, crossing an errand off her list. Also, you never had a friend you wanted to see but for some reason couldn’t physically get to see them? You always magically had a car and the money to fill it with gas? If, for some reason, you couldn’t get out of the house and the hell away from your parents, wouldn’t you have liked to have another method of communication? I’ve seen families so busy with extracurriculars and jobs that cell phones are a requirement, even for the teens. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/47 "2012-11-19T19:38:11Z")
I don’t know if it’s a generational thing or just personal preference but there is nothing I hate more than chit chatting on the phone (yet I could blab with the rest of them when I was a teen so maybe it \*is \*an age thing). There’s no use carping about my particular hatred of many peoples’ phone etiquette (or lack thereof), but I just don’t know what I’d do with a cell phone. I do keep a prepaid one in my car and if it somehow came down to needing to ditch the landline I could do it, but then am I expected to always answer my phone because the caller assumes I have it with me? I simply won’t accept calls when I’m away from home. Not trying to be selfrighteous or anything; I’ve just never had a job that took me off site and when I’m out socially I have no need to speak to anyone but the person I’m currently with at the given moment. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/48 "2012-11-19T19:46:15Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > So no one cares about getting the hell out of the house and away from their parents and actually being with someone they want to be with, because they can text? > > Now _that’s_ a rose-colored lawn, if you get my meaning. > > And if the deprivation of growing up without a smart phone for awhile is too overwhelmingly tragic, they can [del]write[/del] text a novel about it later. Could I do my job without email? Maybe, if I really needed to. Half the people I email are in the office, and I can arrange a lot of stuff by phone. Documents could be an issue, but I guess we could use Fedex to send them back and forth. This organization somehow existed before email, after all. Would I possibility be able to keep up with my job as it is now without email? Absolutely not. I would immediately become the slowest and least efficient employee. Nobody would want me on their teams, and I’d miss a huge chunk of what’s going on in the office. I’m sure I would be let go, and if I somehow couldn’t be, I’d be relegated to the sidelines. Teenagers make their plans by text. Heck, I make my plans by text. At this point, even sustenance farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa adn Indian rickshaw drivers make their plans by text. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/49 "2012-11-19T19:56:31Z")
Text can be very handy. A few weeks ago, a friend stopped in from out of town unexpectedly. She texted me to say so. I didn’t answer. That’s because I left my phone at home. By the sheerest coincidence, she happened to look up from her phone at the exact moment I walked by her car. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/50 "2012-11-19T20:22:10Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I do keep a prepaid one in my car and if it somehow came down to needing to ditch the landline I could do it, but then am I expected to always answer my phone because the caller assumes I have it with me? I simply won’t accept calls when I’m away from home. Not trying to be selfrighteous or anything; I’ve just never had a job that took me off site and when I’m out socially I have no need to speak to anyone but the person I’m currently with at the given moment. Certainly you don’t have to drop everything you’re doing at that moment just to answer your phone. But if it’s a convenient moment, why wouldn’t you just answer, let the person know that you’ll call them back, and go back to what you were doing? After all, what if a family member or friend is calling you with a true emergency, and they know you’re not going to be at home for a while? Is it really worth potentially missing something very important just to stand on some kind of principle? That seems silly. And if you know you’re not going to answer your phone, I certainly hope you’ve turned the ringer off. People who let their phone ring and ring drive me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/51 "2012-11-19T20:40:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Can we broaden this rant to include cellphone addicts who can’t walk five feet without their eyes glued on a screen? I submit that we need to start a public awareness campaign that if you’re walking slowly or come to a complete stop due to your electronic device, you need to take it off to the side of the flow of foot traffic, just like we expect slow drivers to stay in the rightmost lane. This is what I came in to rant about. Look I get that cell phones are handy, for some required, for some convenience, great in an emergency, etc. But Damn, everywhere you look, every minute, you’re seemingly surrounded by people enslaved by a small device. It almost seems a hypnosis. I watch mothers, headed to the nearby public school, to meet their child, a toddler in tow, chattering away, Mom’s absorbed in her phone. Ditto the whole time she’s waiting. Ditto the journey back, past my window, chattering 8yr old beside her. Same for people walking their dogs? Talk about a good walk ruined! It almost seems like adults were, back when Gameboy was all the rage, growing impatient with their child’s utter absorption in it. Only now it’s all the adult’s turn. It’s like cell phones have turned the whole world into 13yr old girls with their first extension phone. Or 10yr olds with Gameboys. I have one, though the phone function is actually broken. But I do play games on it, sometimes. But not when I’m with people. Maybe in a waiting room. Whatever the magnetism is, that so consumes people to chose to interact with a machine, in the actual presence of real people, seems utterly lost on me. I find it truly baffling. Really, you’re out with your family and you’re on your phone? Colour me delighted to have experienced a pre cell phone world and especially childhood. But it’s clearly a new world today. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/52 "2012-11-19T20:49:09Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > ? After all, what if a family member or friend is calling you with a true emergency, and they know you’re not going to be at home for a while? Is it really worth potentially missing something very important just to stand on some kind of principle? That seems silly. If its an actual emergency they will either try multiple times to call me on the cell and or leave an actual message. Then I will know its an actual emergency. Of course most of the time I would receive an emergency call on the cell about the only thing I could do is say “man that sucks!”. I guess there might be the rare instant where relative X is going to die in the next 2 hours and I can make it to the hospital before they shuffle off this mortal coil. But I ain’t living my life chained to the cell phone for that remote possibility. If they were important enough to interact with in their final moments, they were important enough to be in my life in the first place and thats whats going to have to do. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/53 "2012-11-19T20:54:04Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > iTwelve years after joining the ranks of cell phone users, I still don’t have a smart phone. Being able to email or Google anything from anywhere sure would be nice, and my budget could easily afford it, but I can’t justify doubling my cell phone bill for that privilege; it just seems like a waste to me. This. I have a basic cell that can get my email if I’m in a place where I can’t connect with the laptop for a long period of time, but otherwise my cell is for if I have an emergency in outer Nowhere. I am more interested in what is going on around me than what might be happening on a tiny screen. > [@](#): > > Bottom line? All you people bitching about how hard is is to make ends meet - _while posting about it via your smartphones_ - can go ahead and download a video of the world’s smallest violin, playing just for you. There was a blurb going around FB about how hard it was to put up with people judging a person who was buying groceries with food stamps while carrying a designer purse and something else, I forget. The kicker was that the blurb was posted from a smart phone. :smack: > [@tdn](#): > > If you have a cell phone, and it’s with you (which it doesn’t have to be), and it’s turned on (which it doesn’t have to be), you are still not compelled to answer it. Exactly. Sometimes when I am driving to out Nowhere, I just feel like being alone with the scenery and my thoughts. That’s why we have voice mail. > [@Broomstick](#): > > You’re assuming employment will be available for said kids. Right now in my area adults with a couple decades of work experience are having trouble finding work, much less some 16 or 18 year old with zero experience. Not even part time McD’s work? :eek: > [@billfish678](#): > > I am reminded of some recent commercial (though what it is actually for I forget). It shows 4? guys in a big SUV? driving around in the woods/mountains checking their cell phone coverage. Eventually they find the “right” spot and set up camp. > > The right spot is a place without cell phone coverage. I can relate. Every time I see that ad, I wonder why they don’t just turn their phones off. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/54 "2012-11-19T20:55:54Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > If its an actual emergency they will either try multiple times to call me on the cell and or leave an actual message. Then I will know its an actual emergency. Then you’re not what I’m talking about. I’m referring to a policy of > [@](#): > > I simply won’t accept calls when I’m away from home. Which is considerably different than the perfectly sensible principle of “I might not pick up the first time, but if I can see that you’re still calling and I think it might be important, I’ll answer.” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/55 "2012-11-19T20:58:32Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Every time I see that ad, I wonder why they don’t just turn their phones off. You’ve never been married or had the boss or friend or relative from hell have you? If it ain’t true you can’t sell the story. I had the phone off doesnt cut it. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/56 "2012-11-19T21:09:11Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You’ve never been married or had the boss or friend or relative from hell have you? > > If it ain’t true you can’t sell the story. I had the phone off doesnt cut it. I’m not getting it. Turning off the phone or driving to someplace without coverage is going to sound like the same thing to someone trying to call you. So, to up the stakes: I’m in a Starbucks because I needed to download something and only have dial up at home. Guy comes in with two kids, maybe 5-7 years of age _and they both have laptops_. That is nuts. The first thing he said to me was he would try to keep the noise down. Kid across from me is pounding the chair and Dad is doing nothing. Thank god my download is done… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/57 "2012-11-19T21:11:10Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > As was discussed upthread, even basic cell phones are a luxury. This is your opinion; it is not a fact. What constitutes a luxury is mostly subjective, although I mostly agree with you on smart phones for kids. Many people would consider sitting at home all afternoon waiting for a call on a land line to be the luxury. Why? Because time is not without value. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/58 "2012-11-19T21:19:07Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Many people would consider sitting at home all afternoon waiting for a call on a land line to be the luxury. Why? Because time is not without value. If you’re struggling to pay all your bills, and you have to choose between: -cell phone -land line (cuz if you’re on a tight budget, you don’t have cable TV/internet, so you need dial-up) -heat (including hot water for showers) -electricity then something’s gotta give. Your time may be valuable, but so are heat and electricity. Take your pick. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/59 "2012-11-19T21:24:42Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Can we broaden this rant to include cellphone addicts who can’t walk five feet without their eyes glued on a screen? Damn sorry excuse for a network! I was just trying to find a radio station I could stream. This brings up another reason I think people do gravitate towards smart phones–control over one’s personal environment. You don’t have to accept whatever is being played on the radio wherever you are; you can usually listen to just about anything you want from anywhere in the world. To be sure, that _is_ a luxury, but a damn useful one at that. I’d give up just about every other luxury before giving that up. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495/60 "2012-11-19T21:36:06Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > Certainly you don’t have to drop everything you’re doing at that moment just to answer your phone. But if it’s a convenient moment, why wouldn’t you just answer, let the person know that you’ll call them back, and go back to what you were doing? After all, what if a family member or friend is calling you with a true emergency, and they know you’re not going to be at home for a while? Is it really worth potentially missing something very important just to stand on some kind of principle? That seems silly. > > And if you know you’re not going to answer your phone, I certainly hope you’ve turned the ringer off. People who let their phone ring and ring drive me nuts. I knew I wasn’t wording that right. I just mean that, for me, there isn’t a convenient moment, because I’m busy doing whatever it is . . .I’m doing at the time. It’s not really a matter of principle, I’m just not interested in being interupted. Anyone who knows me knows I won’t answer when I’m out and the two or three times I did need to touch base with someone it was planned beforehand that I’d call them at such and such time. It’s all about me and my convenience 😉 And I absolutely do not leave my ringer on (but then again I never take it out of my car). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cell-phone-addicts/641495.md?page=4)