SimplyMom: My Take

Posted by Mary

As I mentioned in my last posting, July is National Cell Phone Courtesy Month. Now, I don't want to beat an old blog post to death, but I did want to add my own two cents to that post, which was mostly a service piece with suggestions on how to celebrate this most prestigious of occasions.

The suggestions on how to be a more courteous cell user are basically common sense. But what I really don't understand is our obsession with the cell phone to begin with. I mean, do we really have to be that available to the outside world? Whatever happened to calling back if someone can't be reached? Or to actually participating in the moment, instead of anticipating what comes next?

When I first got my cell phone, it was strictly for business. I was a reporter, and I covered one too many late night meeting only to find my deadline had passed (or my battery had died) while I waited for the outcome of a closed session. I needed the phone for emergencies, and it made my family feel better knowing that I could reach them if I broke down while pursuing the breaking news of suburbia. I think I had a 500 minute plan, and those 500 minutes lasted me an entire year.

Of course, then I went and married a guy who used his cell phone as his only phone. He couldn't be tied down to a landline, and even though he would call during the seventh inning stretch at a Yankees game just to say he loved me (yes, he was that romantic), I always had the feeling he didn't want me to know exactly where he was (yes, I was that paranoid).

Now, I realize there is a place for cell phones in our lives. We let our kids have one when they reach the appropriate age (13 - teenage rite of passage, doncha know?) and honestly, they've been a Godsend to me. I love being able to track them down at a moment's notice, and they can't use that old "I didn't have change for the phone booth" excuse my parents never really bought from me.

But I cringe when I see people checking their phones at the dinner table (in a restaurant or at home). We have a "no phone" rule during our dinner time - if the landline rings, we let it. As long as all of us are around the table, the rest of the world can wait.

And I guess that's at the core of how I feel about cell phones. They were created to make us more connected. So why do we use them to connect to others, while alienating those closest to you at that very moment?

Hey, I'm all for reaching out and touching someone. But I prefer to do it person to person, not through a network.

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