Idle Chatter

As I sit at a red light waiting for the change  to green, I am astounded by the cavalcade that passes before me.  One car after another goes by; the driver looks steadfastly forward, hand upraised with cellphone pressed firmly against ear.  And they're talking, talking, talking.  About what??  It's almost as if they were born this way.

They're talking in their cars, in the supermarkets, on the street--everywhere.  What do these people have left to say when they actually see the person to whom they've been talking?  I'm a throwback, a dinosaur, to the age of cellphones.  The very idea of being available to someone--anyone--24/7 is so abhorrent to me that to be put in such a position would be something akin to a personal hell.  The telephone and I are not the best of friends.  We're necessary acquaintances at best.  I regard it as a necessary evil.

When I'm in my car, alone, I am in my own little sancuary where I wish to be available to no one.  I'm free to listen to whatever music I want and if I want to hear Tina belt out "What's Love Got To Do With It?" for the thousandth time, it's my choice.  My commute to and from work is fairly short and the very last thing I want or need is the aggravating ring (or summons) of a phone demanding my attention.  If there's something going on that's so important that I need to be told about it, the news will be there when I get to work.  Yes, I can wait ten or so minutes to learn that some crisis has befallen someone near and dear to me.  I think too much information too soon, instant knowledge of bad/sad news are a lot to blame for the rampant stress, depression and misery that so many people seem to have fallen victim to.

Sure, this is easy for me to spout about.  I was brought up with a not so subliminal sense of hatred for the telephone.  My mother hated Mr. Bell's invention; this may be the one disservice she passed along.  None of my siblings are overly fond of the telephone either.  Much as we love and adore each other and enjoy getting together, none of us ever gets on the phone simply to chat and ask, "how're ya doing?"  It never crosses our minds to do so.  Hmmmm...very strange, especially in this technological age.  My husband finds this a very strange thing indeed!

I find myself wondering how I, my mother and all the generations past managed to bring up and keep track of children without outfitting each child with a cellphone.  Pehaps life didn't have such a "spur of the moment" quality about it then.  When your child said they were going to so and so's house or to such and such a place, you knew when they'd get there, about how long they'd be and when to expect them home.  I was never expected to check in with my home every hour on the hour.  I didn't bring my children up to do this either.  I did instill in them the extreme importance of phoning home to let me know of a change of plans.  I've always assumed it's perfectly acceptablefor them to use the phone in the house where they are or a pay phone if they're out and about.  Have you noticed that there don't seem to be as many pay phones around these days?  I think the proliferation of cellphones is fazing them out. 

Sometimes I think everybody in the world has one except myself, my husband (who probably wouldn't mind having one), and my son (who could buy one for himself if he so chose.)  I'm sure my children think I should have one so that, if for no other reason, they could still get in touch with me when I'm using the computer.  I don't have call alert on my PC; don't plan on getting this feature any time soon.  I just don't want to be instantly connected to the world every minute of the day.  Am I a living, breathing anachronism?  It's okay with me.