Cell Phones

[Armistead]

Could you survive without using your cell phone? If I would have invested all the money I've paid in cell phone bills for many people over the last..since they were invented, by the time I reach 65, I would have over $500,000.00 saved.

Every kid I see has a cell phone, even younger children 10-13. Do kids really need these things that bad? Would we not be better to take them away from children? My son is 11 and wants one...not going to happen.
My 17 year old daughter has one..of course and is texting all the time.
I'm amazed at how many parents pay for cell phones, pagers, ect..but never put a dime into savings.

My business requires that I have one. I do like the safety features of finding people when I need them. I just find it amazing that we once survived without all the gadgets.

I'm trying to get rid of as many gadgets as I can. However, I noticed it's almost like people expect you to have laptops, pagers, cell phones, ect...so they can find you anytime they need you.

 

[HuntingMan]

Could you survive without using your cell phone? If I would have invested all the money I've paid in cell phone bills for many people over the last..since they were invented, by the time I reach 65, I would have over $500,000.00 saved.

Every kid I see has a cell phone, even younger children 10-13. Do kids really need these things that bad? Would we not be better to take them away from children? My son is 11 and wants one...not going to happen.
My 17 year old daughter has one..of course and is texting all the time.
I'm amazed at how many parents pay for cell phones, pagers, ect..but never put a dime into savings.

Ill gladly pay the $108 a month I pay for our two phone family plan to provide my wife the ability to call me if she has a flat.
Twice she has locked herself out of her car where if she didnt have the cell phone she'd have been at the mercy of anyone who came along to 'help'.

If it were up to me everyone would have a cell phone and every law abiding citizen would be carrying a firearm for self defense.

Maybe Im paranoid, but Ive been the victim of just enough crime to know better.

 

[dead2self]

I agree with the sentiments expressed here fully. But as a truck driver I can tell you my cell phone has come in handy.

 

[Armistead]

Ill gladly pay the $108 a month I pay for our two phone family plan to provide my wife the ability to call me if she has a flat.
Twice she has locked herself out of her car where if she didnt have the cell phone she'd have been at the mercy of anyone who came along to 'help'.

If it were up to me everyone would have a cell phone and every law abiding citizen would be carrying a firearm for self defense.

Maybe Im paranoid, but Ive been the victim of just enough crime to know better.

I'd venture to say most of us are somewhat paranoid these days. It's almost as if the technology has caused many of the problems we fear.
Just 25 years ago, you got a flat, almost always someone helped out. Today, you get a flat, most go by...guess they figure you have called someone.

I think all these gadgets have in someway replaced humanity helping each other out. People seem to be more stressed. I constantly am waiting for my cell phone to go off. I cut everything off for a day....and was stressed out.

I agree, I want my wife to have one, ect. But there was a time we had little worry over not having a gadget and trusted in our fellow man. I think humanity is being replaced by technology and we all have no choice but fall in line.

Even out of fear, my wife wants my 11 year old to have one in case he needs to get in touch...

I agree, all law abiding men and women should be able to pack...crime rates would fall to nothing.

 

[HuntingMan]

But there was a time we had little worry over not having a gadget and trusted in our fellow man.

The good old days.
Sadly they were replaced by newer days where every flat or breakdown has become an opportunity for someone to rob, rape and/or murder.

I answered the door in the fall of 2004 and what should have just been someone asking if someone was home that no longer lived in the apt I had recently moved into turned into my having to physically eject what turned out to be a man trying to force his way into my home.
30 years ago it probably wouldnt have been anything that would have happened on this block.

With all these predators about, our children just arent safe anymore...or our wives, or even ourselves.
Criminals have taken the ability for us to trust our fellow man right out of the equation.
I find myself not trusting anyone until they prove that they are trustworthy. It shouldnt have to be this way, but the only way for a person to be sure they dont end up a statistic is to be on the offense and keep the predators on the defense instead.

Its a horrid way to have to live life, but its better than having our children or our wives grabbed or having some deviant coming into our homes with ill intent.

I agree, all law abiding men and women should be able to pack...crime rates would fall to nothing.

absolutely.
Or maybe there'd be blood in the streets

 

[Celticflower]

I could live with out my cellphone -- evidenced by the fact that it spends most of its time unused on the back of the lovseat in the livingroom (that is where the outlet is I use to charge it). Mainly it is used on trips or when we head out shopping and Dh and kids are going one way while I go another - have to have a way to meet up again. A lot of kids in my daughter's high school have them, but can't use them at school, partly because it is school policy and partly because you can't get a good signal there (4 miles from my house and my phone says it is a long distance call???). Some of the kids in my son's middle school have them, but if they are caught with it on during class it gets taken away, long with the gameboys, ipods, etc.

One thing cell phones has made harder -- tracking down my husband's customers who skip out without paying their bill. You can't look them up in the phone book to check an address if they don't have a landline (and so many don't anymore). I hate to think how much money we lose every month that way. (And yes, we do use a collection agency. In 6 months they have collected $10 from one customer -- which is better thant he first compnay we used that collected $0 in a year)

 

[HuntingMan]

if they don't have a landline (and so many don't anymore)

Actually, that brings up another point.

I wonder how many have traded in the land line for a cell ?
Laura and I only have cells, as does her brother and family who have a two phone cell plan like we do.

Are more people using cells exclusively, do you think ?
If so, I wonder if its like Laura and I where I just dont see the need in paying for both our cells and a land line ?

 

[Celticflower]

Actually, that brings up another point.

I wonder how many have traded in the land line for a cell ?
Laura and I only have cells, as does her brother and family who have a two phone cell plan like we do.

Are more people using cells exclusively, do you think ?
If so, I wonder if its like Laura and I where I just dont see the need in paying for both our cells and a land line ?

I'm sure that is part of it - I know lots of people who only have cell phones around here.

But I think part of it is also people trying to hide from creditors, exs, lawyers etc. I've heard about a lot of those people here too.

 

[Joykins]

Ill gladly pay the $108 a month I pay for our two phone family plan to provide my wife the ability to call me if she has a flat.
Twice she has locked herself out of her car where if she didnt have the cell phone she'd have been at the mercy of anyone who came along to 'help'.

If it were me I'd've locked the cell phone in the car, too. Well, the one time I did lock myself out of the car I had locked in it my purse (with cell phone and spare key), my car keys, my house keys, and my baby. My husband was out of town.

I banged on a neighbor's door and she let me use the phone. The fire department came. O the embarrassment.

 

[Joykins]

I could live without the cell phone but my husband got me one. Most of the time I remember to bring it with me for the day and charge it up, but sometimes not. It has been convenient from time to time but almost never necessary; sometimes when I do think I would need it, it has been uncharged or left at home.

Here's an example of what happened one time: I took the subway into work but took the bus back. The bus goes to a park and ride lot nowhere near the subway. I went to call my husband to tell him that I didn't have my car and ask him to pick up our daughter at day care. My cell phone battery was dead. So I took the next bus to the mall and went to a pay phone and called my husband. He was mad because he'd started dinner, he'd GIVEN me this cell phone to use for just this kind of thing and I didn't take care of it, and he had by then already received a call from day care asking what was up so he said he would pick our daughter up. So I had to go to the mall info desk and ask which bus to take to the subway station. I got on the first one that arrived, and it took me 45 minutes to get to the subway station. I think I got home at nearly 8 pm that time.

I should have asked my husband to pick me up but I figured he'd use the time to not be so mad at me, but that didn't work Luckily my new phone holds the charge for close to a month because I don't use it much.

 

[HuntingMan]

But I think part of it is also people trying to hide from creditors, exs, lawyers etc. I've heard about a lot of those people here too.

How does someone hide from them ?
Is it that cells arent listed or is it something else ?
Sorry, I just dont honestly know much about it.

edit.
maybe this will help me hide in the future if I need to

 

[HuntingMan]

I could live without the cell phone but my husband got me one. Most of the time I remember to bring it with me for the day and charge it up, but sometimes not. It has been convenient from time to time but almost never necessary; sometimes when I do think I would need it, it has been uncharged or left at home.

do you have a land line that you use instead, tho, or just dont use the phone much ?

Ive been wondering the last few years with seeing a few people like us who just dont even bother with the house phone thing if people would eventually start moving towards using cells exclusively (except where necessary, obviously).

Here's an example of what happened one time: I took the subway into work but took the bus back. The bus goes to a park and ride lot nowhere near the subway. I went to call my husband to tell him that I didn't have my car and ask him to pick up our daughter at day care. My cell phone battery was dead. So I took the next bus to the mall and went to a pay phone and called my husband. He was mad because he'd started dinner, he'd GIVEN me this cell phone to use for just this kind of thing and I didn't take care of it, and he had by then already received a call from day care asking what was up so he said he would pick our daughter up. So I had to go to the mall info desk and ask which bus to take to the subway station. I got on the first one that arrived, and it took me 45 minutes to get to the subway station. I think I got home at nearly 8 pm that time.

I should have asked my husband to pick me up but I figured he'd use the time to not be so mad at me, but that didn't work Luckily my new phone holds the charge for close to a month because I don't use it much.

I check our cell batteries at least once a day.
But thats probably only because its all we use.
If we had a land line, Im not sure Id be so adamant about checking for a charged battery

 

[Celticflower]

How does someone hide from them ?
Is it that cells arent listed or is it something else ?
Sorry, I just dont honestly know much about it.

edit.
maybe this will help me hide in the future if I need to

Cell phone numbers aren ot listed in the phone book so it is harder to find someone's number. You also can't get them by phone thru information. And because the pay as you go phones are popular and cheap, if someone does find out your cell number it is no big deal to pitch that one and just buy a new one. All of which makes it harder than before to find people who just don't want to be found by you. (I'm sure there are ways to get the information through the police or by paying through the nose for it, but for most people it is a simple way to drop off the radar from unwanted calls or attention).

 

[£amb]

For me, I could live without a cell phone. As a matter of fact, I don't even remember where I left it. It does have a few conveniences, but other than that I don't care for it one bit. My husband got me one so he could use it overseas (has some kinda international chip or something like that). My nieces got cell phones a couple years ago, and all my boys did was whine about getting one too. I told they could get a part time job and pay for the bill. They were bummed when they realized they're not old enough to work.... (they want to spend their allowance on games anyhow) Probably in the future when my boys are old enough to be out and about, I'll lend them my phone so I can keep tabs on them or if they're in a dire situation. They really have no need for it now.

To be honest, right now it's cheaper for us to use our cell phones than the house phone. The bill is unbelievable!! Even if you don't call anyone....tax for this, tax for that.

Cell phones are my pet peeve! Can't stand hearing other people's conservations...why do they have to speak two times the volume louder than normal??? Can't stand seeing people driving and chatting....especially teenagers. And the worse is seeing two friends out together, and one of them is on the phone while the other is bored out of their minds.

 

[Joykins]

do you have a land line that you use instead, tho, or just dont use the phone much ?

I don't use the phone much. We do have a land line because I think the cell network near our house is not as reliable, although I'm not sure why I care It is just an electronic leash

 

[CGL]

I don't have a cellphone.

 

[lawtonfogle]

Ill gladly pay the $108 a month I pay for our two phone family plan to provide my wife the ability to call me if she has a flat.
Twice she has locked herself out of her car where if she didnt have the cell phone she'd have been at the mercy of anyone who came along to 'help'.

If it were up to me everyone would have a cell phone and every law abiding citizen would be carrying a firearm for self defense.

Maybe Im paranoid, but Ive been the victim of just enough crime to know better.

And their would be accidental shootings though the roof. I have nothing against fire arms, but I know a number of people who I wouldn't trust to carry a loaded one, in part because they would be irresponsible and shoot themselves or some such things. And you also got to count those who get drunk...

Anyways though, I have a laptop, two to be exact, but I am studying to be a computer scientist, so gadgets is part of my field.

 

[Tissue]

Technology is not unholy.

 

[HuntingMan]

And their would be accidental shootings though the roof.

Im not going to get into this nonsense here, but this is typical antigun paranoia/propaganda

Do you know that MOST of the United States have concealed carry laws ?
Did you know that there HASNT been all these 'accidental shootings' or 'blood in the streets' like anti gun fanatics cry out about all the time when these states have gone CCW ?
Id suggest a study of the matter starting with FBI statistics on CCW.

I have nothing against fire arms, but I know a number of people who I wouldn't trust to carry a loaded one,

So you personally know a few nitwits, so do I..what does that mean ?

in part because they would be irresponsible and shoot themselves or some such things. And you also got to count those who get drunk...

As far as I understand it it is a crime to be carrying a weapon under the influence. Your friends would most likely be felons at that rate. *I* am talking about law abiding citizens...those who DONT get stoned and then play with guns.