These are old archived entries from my journal, Ornamental Illness. I have eliminated all graphics (except those in context of an entry) to save on my bandwidth usage.


Please visit my other sites below. I promise they're more visually interesting.

Ornamental Illness main entry page

Ann-S-Thesia Web Graphics

Ann's Gemstone Jewelry

The Dingbatcave

Art Objects

Eyebalm Fine Art

Windowsill Cactus

..::Previous entry: "Characters"::.. ..::Main Index::.. ..::Next entry: "Summer Monarch Butterflies"::..

12:20:2002 Entry: "Ann : Stupidity and Cellphones"

Stupidity and Cellphones

An interesting article called Why do cell phones make us stupid? (found via Bonni). I dunno. I'm beginning to think that the stupidity is already there, just waiting to be unleashed, and the cellphone is the catalyst. In our personal situation, and in the situation of our good friend Bill, we dumped our landlines because the service was horrendous (two different phone companies, btw), and got cellphones instead. Do we take it with us? Well, duh. (Stan and I only have one phone between us). Do we drive while talking on it? No, and although I haven't been with Bill since he got his phone (he lives 1000 miles away), I'd be willing to bet he does not use his while driving either. I've always been against driving while phoning, and now that I have a cellphone myself, I'm even more adamantly against it because I know how distracting it is. When there are two of us in the car, the non-driver answers the phone. If the call is for the driver, we pull over. If I was alone in the car and my phone rang I'd let the voicemail get it. It's so simple, I don't see why other people can't do the same. Why can't they foresee this behavior as dangerous? Why can't they see that jabbering away in Target, telling the person on the other end of the line that they're in the diaper aisle while they chomp their bubblegum simultaneously, is boorish behavior? See, if they weren't stupid, they wouldn't do it in the first place. It's not the cellphone making them stupid, it's just unleashing their unbridled stupidity.

Of course, we have the lowest cost plan, meaning we have to miser our minutes. We are especially very conservative in our use of daytime minutes because we only get 250 a month, and who knows when I'll have to use a lot of them for an emergency call to some customer service support desk. What astounds me is that these sorts of people, as mentioned in the article, are able to chew the fat in grocery stores over absolutely boring topics narrating what they're doing that minute, what product they're picking up, etc. Do these people have limitless calling plans? We looked into a lot of plans, and couldn't find any limitless ones. Do they not care that they're using up their minutes on the stupidest of conversations that I wouldn't even care to have for free without a phone? Do they even see the bill or does their husband (no, I'm not sexist, these have all been women with children) pay it all for them?

It boggles the mind.

See what it equates to is that stupid people can afford huge phone bills, which means stupid people are making a good living and getting ahead financially.

Insert snide remark against George W. Bush here.

2 Comments

omg...they are stupid! It scares me to watch people do this while i am in the car....and being a non driver, it just doesn't make any sence what so ever.

HA! he is a putz, eh? ANd a few more colorful metaphores as well....OYE!

Posted by Lori @ 09:08:2002:06:14 PM CST

It's not allowed here to drive and babble in a cellphone at the same time, people just do it anyway. What's more annoying is when you're standing in line at the supermarket waiting to pay for a chocolate or cigarettes and the guy in front never get finished paying for his stuff because he's busy talking on the phone.

Posted by Nico @ 09:10:2002:04:08 AM CST

By Ann @ 20:24 AM CST:12:20:02 ..::Link::..