Banning Cell Phones: I Hate Talking on the Phone - Presidental Campaign

[Pengwuino]

Don't you?

After having a cell phone for about 3 years, I have realized that I am sick of them. I hate having to take calls and talking to people. If I'm not home, what makes people think I want to talk? All talking should happen in-home with a big handlebar up to your ear and a cord running from it. Otherwise, it should be face-to-face. When I am elected President, I am banning all cell phones.

 

[Lisa!]

I always turn it off when I'm having a nice time out of home!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I don't have one. I would much rather have one though. I'm rarely at home so most of the time when I want to try to get ahold of someone I can't. I don't know how many times now I have been out and about and needed to call someone but didn't have change or wasn't able to find a pay phone that worked.
I was really astounded when I realized just how much we've changed over to cell phones. It happened when I was supposed to be meeting a friend at a really nice pub near Fascist Island in Newport. When I looked for a pay phone, because I wasn't in the mall but across the street, There Weren't Any! None, no where, no how. The only reason I could think of was that the area I was in was rather well to do and they figured they didn't need any because they all have cell phones.

 

[Smurf]

Cell Phones are evil incarnate.

 

[Moonbear]

If you don't want to be disturbed while out, you can always turn the phone off or simply choose not to answer it. I wish more people would learn that skill. I like having a cell phone because I can go for long stretches of time when I'm hardly home except to sleep, so it gives me the freedom to still talk to people when I'm away from home. But, if I'm away doing stuff and don't want to be disturbed, I turn the phone off or to silent mode. I also set different ringtones for the people I do like to talk to more often so I can tell by the ringtone if I want to answer it or hit the silence button (it's sort of like the concept of screening calls on the answering machine when home). Really, it's no different than when you're home doing something you don't want interrupted (entertaining guests, or watching a favorite movie, or snuggling with your best beloved) and let the answering machine take the call.

Though, if you don't want to talk to people when you're out, ever, then you might only want a phone for emergency use. If so, then you can get the cheapest plan possible and leave the phone off. You won't mind paying 60 cents/min for roaming or whatever other fees if the only time you use the phone is when you're stranded on the side of the road somewhere.

 

[Kerrie]

i never carry mine, my husband always has it for now since i can call him at anytime to say it's time to go to the hospital! (i am due in 4 weeks!) what i love is my broadband phone because i can check who has called and even check my voice mails from a computer.

 

[rocketboy]

I got mine for my 16th birthday last summer and I noticed an increase in my freedom afterwards since my parents were always able to contact me. Tonight for instance, my rents let me go to a party (and they even let me take the car there...got my liscense last week ) and they didn't even give me a curfew because I had my phone on me. (Although my mom tried my dad just said "be home when you think it is a reasonable time.")

The irony...my cellphone battery died at about 10:30. I'm still home at a reasonable time though...what a good kid I am.

 

[Moonbear]

I got mine for my 16th birthday last summer and I noticed an increase in my freedom afterwards since my parents were always able to contact me. Tonight for instance, my rents let me go to a party (and they even let me take the car there...got my liscense last week ) and they didn't even give me a curfew because I had my phone on me. (Although my mom tried my dad just said "be home when you think it is a reasonable time.")

The irony...my cellphone battery died at about 10:30. I'm still home at a reasonable time though...what a good kid I am.

Oh, you have such evil parents! When they told you to be home at a "reasonable time," did you have all these thoughts race through your head about "what's reasonable?" "What if I stay too late?" "What if they never trust me again because I took advantage of 'reasonable'?"

The most evil thing my one friend's mom did when we were teens was to hand her the credit card and drop us off at the mall and not give her a spending limit for the day, just told her to use her own judgement. She was so afraid of spending too much, I don't think we ended up buying much of anything. Parents are devious like that!

 

[Pengwuino]

Oh, you have such evil parents! When they told you to be home at a "reasonable time," did you have all these thoughts race through your head about "what's reasonable?" "What if I stay too late?" "What if they never trust me again because I took advantage of 'reasonable'?"

Pff, evil!? If I had a kid, he'd have to lie and jump out a window to get to a party.

 

[Smurf]

Pff, evil!? If I had a kid, he'd have to lie and jump out a window to get to a party.

And if you didn't find out about it for 4 weeks I bet you'd congradulate him.

To me, my parents saying "Reasonable" just meant actually coming home that night (morning).

 

[hypatia]

I hardly ever have my cell phone on, and when I do, I mostly use the 2-way.

 

[brewnog]

I've got a wonderful button on my phone.

When someone rings who you don't want to talk to, you press it, and it silences the phone, but on their end it carries on ringing. That way, you don't get bugged by the ringing/vibrating, and they think that you're just not next to your phone, rather than ignoring them on purpose!

Mwhahahaha.

 

[Monique]

My dad once told a story, of the era before cell phones:
Some friends of his went out in a motorized boat on the lake for a day, my dad was going to pick them up on a specified location at the end of the day. So at the agreed time my dad was standing at the lake, waiting for the boat to arrive. He stood there, waiting, waiting, no one showed up. After an hour he was afraid that he was in the wrong spot, so started driving along the lake to see if he could spot them, no luck, so he returned to the original spot. Noone there. He waited and figured that they might somehow already had returned home, so he drove home and started looking for them, nobody there, he called their house, no one there. He drove back to the lake to see if they had arrived in the meanwhile, but no one was there. At that point it started to get dark and he was getting worried. In order to call the police he had to drive back home, alarmed them, they told him to keep looking and call back with information. So, he drove back to the lake where he could spot them coming towards the shore. It turned out that they had run out of fuel halfway and that they somewhere were able to get some. So, my dad had to pick them up and rush home, he called the police that they were found, but the police had already launched a search action, since a lot of time had passed since my dad had to drive back and forth etc.

Moral of the story: if he would have had a cellphone, he could have called the boat where they were. He could also easily have called the police to warn them or to inform them that the boat had been found.

So, if you don't want people to call you outside of your house, turn off your phone when you're not home. Having a phone with you can be very handy.

 

[Echo 6 Sierra]

Yesterday afternoon during rush hour traffic in downtown Austin I spied a school bus driver yacking on a cell phone while driving. I could not tell if there were any nose-pickers on board because the windows were tinted. I would probably be more upset if I were a parent but just the fact that such a large vehicle is being herded in heavy traffic by someone not paying complete attention to the task at hand is unnerving to me.

 

[BobG]

I was at the barber shop and the barber was talking on her cell phone while giving a haircut. She just propped the phone between her head and shoulder and kept on cutting, even though I don't think she was tall enough to see the top of the person's head while cutting. Sure enough, I was lucky enough to get her. I decided to let the next person go ahead of me.

I think cell phones should definitely be banned while driving. Why do so many people weave back and forth in their lane while talking on their phone?

 

[Monique]

I think cell phones should definitely be banned while driving. Why do so many people weave back and forth in their lane while talking on their phone?

They are already banned in the Netherlands, driving sets are mandatory if you want to talk on a phone.

 

[rocketboy]

Oh, you have such evil parents! When they told you to be home at a "reasonable time," did you have all these thoughts race through your head about "what's reasonable?" "What if I stay too late?" "What if they never trust me again because I took advantage of 'reasonable'?"

HAHA u got it exactly. My parents like that trick. I came home at 12:30 just in case. I think you're right about "What if they never trust me again..." because they a) let me take the car to a party, b) didn't give me a curfew. I think they were testing me. I refrained from drinking a drop and was home at a time I figured they wud see as reasonable...hopefully they agree and let me out again.

I think cell phones should definitely be banned while driving. Why do so many people weave back and forth in their lane while talking on their phone?

I agree, when I drive I never answer my phone, unless I'm able to pull into a parking lot or something. (another one of those things that allows my parents to see me as a responsible kid )

 

[Moonbear]

I think cell phones should definitely be banned while driving. Why do so many people weave back and forth in their lane while talking on their phone?

Absolutely! I used to argue there was nothing bad about the cell phones, just the bad drivers who couldn't talk and drive at the same time, but after realizing how many bad drivers really can't talk and drive at the same time, I think they really do need to be illegal while driving (just give a reckless driving ticket or something like that if someone is weaving with their cell phone on). It amazes me how bad people drive when they are on the phone...a slower reaction time wouldn't surprise me, but what surprises me is what you mentioned, that they weave, start driving erratic speeds (they'll drop down really slow, you'll go to pass them, and then they start driving faster). They drive as badly as drunk drivers.

They are already banned in the Netherlands, driving sets are mandatory if you want to talk on a phone.

A lot of states require that too, but I'm not convinced it solves the real problem of being distracted. I heard a news story that someone did a study with teen drivers that used the hands-free sets and measured their reaction time and they were as slow to react when talking on the phone as senior citizens are (when you consider that senior citizens have experience and ability to anticipate what's ahead to compensate for slow reaction time, while teens don't yet have that experience, it makes it worse than it even sounds to have that slow of a reaction time in a teen driver).

 

[revelator]

Agreed, I hate cellphones. Both mine and those that belong to others, and especially those that are being used by people who are behind the wheels of their cars.

I've stopped taking calls on my cell phone long ago. I just leave it off. I figured from then on it would be an outgoing calls only cell. When I'm out, people can leave a message on my home answering machine, simple as that.

What I have noticed, is that some bothersome people upon calling my cell and home and not being able to reach me, use the opportunity to call my friends whom I may be with in the hopes of reaching me.

I still find it hard to believe, that the idea of people being able to phone you anywhere and anytime, is one of the selling-points in the cell phone industry. You'd think people actually like talking on the phone..

 

[JamesU]

I've got a wonderful button on my phone.

When someone rings who you don't want to talk to, you press it, and it silences the phone, but on their end it carries on ringing. That way, you don't get bugged by the ringing/vibrating, and they think that you're just not next to your phone, rather than ignoring them on purpose!

Mwhahahaha.

you're so lucky...

I hate my cell phone because people sometimes call me in the middle of class. you can bet the teacher likes that...

 

[inha]

Being from Nokia-land a cell phone is the only phone I have. As do many other young folks here since it's actually cheaper to keep than a landline.

 

[AKG]

I don't get it. I can understand not wanting to be called, but if you don't want to be called, leave your phone at home, turn it off, turn it on silent, etc. I can't believe this is something to whine about.

 

[revelator]

you're so lucky...

I hate my cell phone because people sometimes call me in the middle of class. you can bet the teacher likes that...

Why not just shut it off during class??

 

[Moonbear]

I've stopped taking calls on my cell phone long ago. I just leave it off. I figured from then on it would be an outgoing calls only cell. When I'm out, people can leave a message on my home answering machine, simple as that.

I just let voicemail take the call. I initially got a cell phone entirely for use in case of emergencies when I moved 600 miles from all my friends and family and was making a lot of long-distance driving. I didn't even give the phone number out except to a few people who I knew wouldn't bug me all the time but were the most likely to need to reach me for emergencies.

Now that I've had it longer, and travel more, and am away from home a lot (even when I'm at work, I just give people my cell phone number because I'm so often walking back and forth between my lab and office that it's easier to give people the number of the phone that's with me rather than expecting them to try two or three different numbers to find me wherever I am), I have used it a lot more and am glad to have it with me. Aside from it allowing me to be more mobile (I don't have to keep checking in with a secretary to find out if I have messages and then keep scrambling for enough change at a payphone to return the calls, as used to be done when people were traveling for work), it's helpful when you're meeting up with friends somewhere. A few times I've gotten stuck in traffic on the way to meet someone and was able to give them a quick call and let them know I'm going to be late so they don't worry or just stand around waiting and wondering.

What I have noticed, is that some bothersome people upon calling my cell and home and not being able to reach me, use the opportunity to call my friends whom I may be with in the hopes of reaching me.

Wow, that's really rude! They should just leave a message.

I still find it hard to believe, that the idea of people being able to phone you anywhere and anytime, is one of the selling-points in the cell phone industry. You'd think people actually like talking on the phone..

That used to be the purpose of vacations, to go someplace where people couldn't call you so you could get away from the phones; now people bring the phone with them! That is one thing I insist upon, when I go on vacation, I tell people my cell phone will be off and likely not even with me (I'm not taking a cell phone on the beach).

 

[matthyaouw]

Mobile phones do have many merits, most of which have already been mentioned. I wouldn't have as much freedom as I do now without mine, as my parents can just call me if they don't know where I am, or if I decide to sleep at a friend's house one night there's no need to go home and tell them first.

One thing that does bug me is that no one seems to call me anymore. If someone wants to ask me to go out somewhere, they always seem to text me. I'd much rather they ring and ask most of the time. That way I get chance for a bit of a chat too, rather than a 255 charachter maximum message.

 

[Monique]

Yeah, ditto, I also often get text messages instead of a call. It takes me forever to explain something by text message, while a call would have solved it immediately.

 

[revelator]

One thing that does bug me is that no one seems to call me anymore. If someone wants to ask me to go out somewhere, they always seem to text me. I'd much rather they ring and ask most of the time. That way I get chance for a bit of a chat too, rather than a 255 charachter maximum message.

Actually I much prefer the text message myself, because of the 255 character limit, people are forced to make the message clear and to the point. I guess I just hate talking on the phone (unless the call has some practical purpose). I figure if someone wants to have a conversation we should just meet up and go for a coffee or a beer. Unless it's a call from someone living far away, I don't see a reason for having a chitchat on the phone.

 

[Monique]

Last weekend I got a text message: I'm trying to send an email, what do I fill into cc and bcc? It took me three text messages to reply and it took forever to type, I should just have called back.

 

[loseyourname]

I don't have a cell phone or a regular phone.

 

[Evo]

I don't have a cell phone even though one of my company perks gives me a personal cell phone with completely unlimited use for just $10 a month. I just haven't gotten around to signing up.

 

[matthyaouw]

Actually I much prefer the text message myself, because of the 255 character limit, people are forced to make the message clear and to the point.

Sometimes they do, but other times they are barely readable. "txt tlk" and all... There have been times I've had to ask someone to write it again without so many damned abbreviations.

 

[Moonbear]

I have only used text messaging a few times. The only time it was helpful was on my last move when one of my friends who wasn't allowed to make long distance calls from his office needed to reach me during the daytime while I didn't have any internet access, so he could send a short email to my phone asking me to call him. If people don't want to talk, they can send me email. It takes all day to send a text message, so I will not reply that way. For a while, I even had that feature turned off so nobody could even try.

 

[Monique]

My sister is a pro text messenger, I don't know how many characters she can type per minute but it probably is a world record..